I’ve attended three hustings for the General Election.
Thursday’s hustings were by far the most interesting as it was attended by a good cross-section of the candidates from Hallam, Heeley and Central Constituencies. On the panel were Olivia Blake (Labour Hallam), Mick Suter (TUSC Heeley), Alison Teal (Independent, Central), Shaffaq Mohammed (Lib Dem Hallam), Isaac Howarth (Conservative Hallam), Sam Chapman (Rejoin EU, Hallam) and Angela Argenzio (Green Party, Central).
Some of the Yes/No questions were enlightening, so here is a record of their answers. Questions included
Do you support the Climate and Nature Bill? Do you support the campaign to make swift bricks mandatory in new homes? Do you support the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty? Do you support arming Israel? Do you support Electoral Reform?”
| LABOUR | TUSC | TEAL | LIBDEM | CON | REJOINEU | GREEN | |
| Swift Bricks | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Don’t know | Don’t know | Yes |
| Climate and Nature Bill | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes* | No | Yes | Yes |
| Fossil Fuel NPT | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| Supportarming Israel | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | No |
| Electoral Reform | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
There were excellent questions on climate issues. One was “The climate crisis requires difficult decisions now for the benefit of the future. Are you and your party willing to save our future? If so can you give an example of a tough decision you would be prepared to make now for the sake of the future?
Alison Teal answers first, followed by Shaffaq Mohammed, Isaac Howarth (Conservative Hallam), Sam Chapman (Rejoin EU, Hallam) and Angela Argenzio (Green Party, Central), Olivia Blake (Labour Hallam), Mick Suter (TUSC Heeley)
What will you and your party do to support poor countries suffering the impact of the climate emergency? Angela Argenzio answers first followed by Olivia Blake (Labour Hallam), Mick Suter (TUSC Heeley) Alison Teal, Shaffaq Mohammed, Isaac Howarth (Conservative Hallam), Sam Chapman (Rejoin EU, Hallam)
The question that will undoubtedly get the most media interest concerned the laws that have clamped down on protests. This sparked a discussion on the Tree dispute, with Olivia Blake eventually apologising to Alison Teal for the way she was treated by the Labour Council. I was disappointed none of the candidates talked about the Defend our Juries Campaign.
Alison Teal answers first, followed by Shaffaq Mohammed, Isaac Howarth (Conservative Hallam), Sam Chapman (Rejoin EU, Hallam) and Angela Argenzio (Green Party, Central), Olivia Blake (Labour Hallam), Mick Suter (TUSC Heeley)
“Given the onslaught of disinformation from fossil fuel bodies the denigration of climate activists by the Murdoch press and the power of right-wing think tanks, how will your party bring on board the public to make the changes necessary for a just transition away from fossil fuels and to reach net zero.”
This question was answered first by Isaac Howarth (Con) followed by Sam Chapman (Rejoin EU, Hallam) and Angela Argenzio (Green Party, Central), Olivia Blake (Labour Hallam), Mick Suter (TUSC Heeley), Alison Teal, Shaffaq Mohammed (Lib Dems)
Many thanks to the Eco group at St Thomas’s who did a grand job organising the hustings and helping us understand the candidate’s views on important issues.
Christchurch Pitsmoor organised a hustings for the candidates for Brightside and Hillsborough. Gill Furness the Labour Party candidate did not attend and the Conservative candidate sent apologies as he had Covid. He was substituted by the Chair of the local party. Maxine Bowler (Socialist Independent), Christine Gilliagan Kubo (Green Party), Will Sappwell (Liberal Democrats) and Mark Tyley (Workers Party of Britain) were also on the panel. At the end candidates were presented with Palestinian cakes! It has to be said that Maxine Bowler has worked incredibly hard for the Palestinian cause and spoke very well on this. The Greens have also been proudly supporting the Palestinian cause, calling for an end to arms sales to Israel. Here is Green candidate Christine Gilligan Kubo with her Palestinian cake.
This Green Party leaflet compares the parties’ stance on Palestine.
The Trades Council organised a hustings at Central URC Church. Members of Extinction Rebellion lobbied the attendees, asking them to consider the Climate Emergency when they vote.
Again the Labour Party were absent. This was a city-wide hustings and all 6 Labour candidates had been approached. Olivia Blake sent apologies but the other 5 candidates did not reply to the invite. Lib Dem candidates did not reply to their invitation either. Tory/Reform/SDP were not invited. So 4 candidates were present, Maxine Bowler (Independent Socialist standing in Brightside and Hillsborough) Jason Leman (Green Party standing in Hallam), Steven Roy, (Workers Party of Britain standing in Heeley) and Mick Suter, (TUSC standing in Heeley).
I have written to the Sheffield Star explaining that candidates that don’t turn up without a good reason do not deserve our votes.
Here is the video of the debate.
So what have we learnt from the hustings? It is very clear to me that the only party with a credible manifesto is the Green Party. They don’t just have the policies to move the country towards a sustainable society, they also have been honest in how they can get the extremely rich to fund this in increased taxation.
We can straight away rule out voting for Conservatives who have left our country in the terrible state it is in today and will, if re-elected, expand our use of fossil fuels and ignore the climate and nature emergencies. Reform are even worse. As well as their blatant racism, many of their candidates continue to completely disagree with the science. The Workers Party of Great Britain, on the other side of the political spectrum, are also ignoring the science. They are calling for a referendum on Net Zero.
In Sheffield there are 4 safe Labour seats, Central, South East, Brightside and Hillsborough and Heeley. With the polls still indicating an overwhelming Labour majority it is clear you can vote with your hearts in these constituencies. There is absolutely no chance of the Tories or Reform winning here, so you can vote for the party that most reflects your views. This is certainly not wasting your vote as Labour will tell you. A good second place gives a party much more credibility and shows they are in with a chance of winning next time. Political parties also get funding from the Government, called “short money” that is dependent on how many votes they get in the election. If you are not sure which political party most aligns with your views, try doing the quiz on Vote for Policies.
Penistone and Stocksbridge Constituency is the only Sheffield seat with a Conservative MP. Miriam Cates has been active in campaigning to push back targets for Net Zero and has to be defeated. According to polls, the Labour Candidate Marie Tidball already has a massive lead, with 42% of the vote compared to the Conservatives 26%. I can certainly see the attraction of voting for Marie Tidball who campaigns for disabled people and would have an important role in Parliament. However, if I lived in that constituency I wouldn’t be able to vote for a party that has such low ambition on climate action and will continue to sell arms to Israel. The one thing the Conservatives have got right in this campaign is that it is not clear where Labour will get the funds to do anything if it keeps its promise not to increase taxes.
Sheffield Hallam is by far the most marginal seat in Sheffield. Some of my friends are keen to support sitting MP Olivia Blake as she has done some good work in Parliament, notably on the Climate and Nature Bill. I was shocked at the hustings that her Lib Dem opponent Shaffaq Mohammed didn’t seem to know anything about this important bill. Comparing the Lib Dem and Labour manifestoes though gives Lib Dems the edge on Green issues. Greenpeace analysis evaluated the four manifestos against 40 policy recommendations published last autumn by the organisations. The Green Party scored highest with a near perfect score of 39 out of 40 followed by the Liberal Democrats with 32, the Labour Party with 21 and the Conservatives bottom with 5.
The latest poll for Hallam predicts a Labour hold, with 43% of the vote compared to the Lib Dems 36%. Conservatives are on 19% and Greens on 6%. The important thing to remember again is that there is no chance of the Conservatives or Reform winning here, so you can vote for the Party that most reflects your views. If I lived in Hallam that would be Jason Leman, the Green Party candidate, I know he has no chance of winning, but every Green vote will help persuade whoever does win here that it is vital to prioritise the Green policies to tackle the climate and nature emergencies.
Am I being too kind to the Greens? The one important criticism I have of their campaign, both locally and nationally, is that they are not telling the full truth about how awful the climate and nature emergency now is. I understand they don’t want to frighten voters, but we should be honest with people. Take a look at this thread from Ben See for example.
Political parties should be doing far more to plan for the future and make our country as resilient as possible as climate catastrophe beckons. Those in power particularly have a responsibility to listen to climate scientists and heed their warnings, which is just not happening at the moment.
Discover more from Tell the Truth Sheffield
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
