From Burnham’s battle with a snotty tissue and a water bottle to an accidental Tory pledge to increase crime, we rank the candidates who braved a room of Wigan teenagers for the hustings. Rob Williams runs the rule over the performances
From Burnham’s battle with a snotty tissue and a water bottle to an accidental Tory pledge to increase crime, we rank the candidates who braved a room of Wigan teenagers for the hustings.
Rob Williams runs the rule over the performancesteenagers, but five political candidates did exactly that today. With the Makerfield by-election looming, the local hustings promised a fierce battle of ideas and a clash of visions for the future. For two hours, the audience at Winstanley College watched a spectacle that was part political debate, part endurance test.
We witnessed seasoned veterans battling uncooperative water bottles, an accidental endorsement for increasing the crime rate, and a political hero named that left half the room frantically checking Wikipedia under their desks. If you missed the drama, don’t panic. Here is how the candidates measured up on a night where the rules of time were merely a suggestion, and survival was the ultimate goal.
The King of the North and veteran of more hustings than most people have had hot dinners looked entirely at home. Burnham is a polished performer and it showed. Despite being the target of most of the attacks from the panel, he rarely looked rattled. Despite wielding a snotty tissue.
His answers on immigration and Belfast were among his strongest moments. He repeatedly returned to the need for unity and warned politicians to be careful how they use their words. His discussion of Greater Manchester policing in the context of the Belfast incident did seem to miss the point though. His biggest weakness was a rather creative interpretation of the one-minute rule.
Most candidates drifted over occasionally. Burnham appeared to regard the time limit as an opening bid. He also spent a surprising amount of time trying to open a water bottle and appears to have contracted whatever illness is currently doing the rounds in Greater Manchester. A competent display which will do no harm.
Winstanley had a pretty good afternoon. He was across the local issues, knew his brief and probably demonstrated a better understanding of the constituency than most people on the stage. He was particularly strong when discussing immigration, but loses marks for an impassioned defence of Margaret Thatcher that landed with the audience about as well as you would expect from a room full of teenagers in Wigan.
There was also a brief moment where he appeared to advocate increasing crime rather than reducing it. This was obviously a slip of the tongue, although it would certainly have been a bold new direction for Conservative policy. She was sharp, articulate and particularly strong on national issues. Her answers seemed to resonate with the student audience and she was one of the more confident speakers throughout.
When Robert Kenyon spoke about issuing new licences for North Sea drilling, her facial expression suggested she had just been informed someone was planning to pave over a nature reserve. His local credentials remain his strongest card and he returned repeatedly to his roots in the constituency. It is clearly a message that works with some voters.
However, he struggled on questions about Belfast and immigration. While he condemned the violence, his answers sometimes felt like a man trying to cross a minefield while carrying shopping. The toughest moment came when he talked about Reform supporting women's rights and parts of the audience laughed. That is rarely where you want a laugh.
Austin struggled to leave much of a mark and spent large parts of the evening looking like a rabbit caught in very bright headlights. He was strongest when discussing the challenges facing younger voters and gave thoughtful answers on immigration. Beyond that, it was difficult for him to break through. His most memorable contribution came when naming his political hero.
While other candidates reached for Thatcher, Churchill or other figures, Austin opted for Leslie Knope from Parks and Recreation. A perfectly respectable choice. Unfortunately a significant proportion of the audience looked as though they had absolutely no idea who that was. No major mistakes.
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