THE Penarth Woodcraft Folk hosted a general election hustings at All Saints church hall on Sunday, April 19.

The event started at 1pm and saw prospective parliamentary candidates in attendance to answer questions which had been sent in beforehand, as well as audience questions on the day.

The candidates were: Anthony Slaughter (Green Party), Ben Foday (Plaid Cymru), Sam Gold (UKIP Caerphilly candidate, standing in for John Rees-Evans who was unable to attend due to a family bereavement), Stephen Doughty (Labour), Ross Saunders (Trade Union and Socialist Coalition), Nigel Howells (Liberal Democrats) and Emma Warman (Conservatives).

Various topics were discussed including climate change, tuition fees, one-upmanship in politics, the European Union, constitutional crises and the NHS.

The format saw candidates answer a set question before there was an open debate. This meant that each party would have a fair opportunity to speak about a wide range of issues.

There was a particularly impassioned debate surrounding the topics of zero hours contracts and tuition fees with several audience members voicing their opinions from their own experiences.

A lighter moment saw the suggestion of either ‘jazz hands’ or clicking rather than clapping to indicate agreement or approval so the discussion would flow better.

The atmosphere was one of healthy debate between candidates and audience with all present finding common ground in opposition to personal attacks that have been launched during the campaign.

The next hustings event in Penarth will be hosted by Penarth CYTÛN at 3pm Sunday, April 26, in Trinity Methodist Church.