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Hustings seems a quaint, old fashioned feature of elections in the past and until I moved to our town, I had never seem them advertised. Therefore, I was delighted in the last general election when I realised that the practice is alive and well and political debate is encouraged in our constituency.  I really enjoyed the hustings of 2010 so was keen to attend this campaign’s event which took place last night.

In the media there has been much comment about the levels of participation and interest in politics and a picture of apathy and disinterest has been presented.  However, last night’s event was hugely popular, played to a full house with an audience really representing our town’s population.  Sixty five questions had been submitted in advance and five themes were chosen, Wind Farms, not such an odd choice give there is a Wind farm proposed for our coastline, Poverty, Affordable Housing, Overseas Aid and Defence spending and the NHS.  Five political parties were represented, Conservative, Labour, Liberal Democrats, UKIP and the Green party.  Two other candidates were given five minutes each to present their manifestos.  Our current MP is Conservative having taken the seat from Labour in the last election with a 9% swing.  This election is difficult to call, the Tory MP has a decent majority, however UKIP do appear to be popular in the area which may lower the Tory vote and allow the Labour candidate to do well.  The Labour candidate was the strongest performer at the Hustings, the Green Party representative was well informed and earnest but not really a realistic vote winner, the Liberal Democrat a loose cannon, again well informed and knowledgeable about party policy but when asked his own opinion did go a bit ‘off message’, he was quite funny to listen to when he really doesn’t have a hope of scoring well.  Our sitting MP did not perform well, the most often used word was ‘regrettably’  and he did suggest that a caravan was appropriate for affordable housing.  There was an amusing heckle when the lack of land for house building was mentioned with a member of the audience shouting out well you own it.  Our MP’s family does own an awful lot of land in this constituency, hence the proliferation of his posters in the fields.  The clever player last night was the UKIP candidate, I was expecting him to repeat the national themes of immigration, EU etc..  However, he played it locally and didn’t give the headlines expected, his arguments were clear, a bit dull but he played to his audience.  I am interested to see how this translates into votes.

It is now two weeks until Voting day and whilst my vote had never been in doubt, last night’s hustings reinforced my political beliefs.  The nicest thing about the hustings was the proof that people are passionate about politics and keen to engage in considered and respectful debate.

Over the past year we have begun to get more confident and enthusiastic about weekends away.  When the children were younger, there was a certain level of anxiety about sleeping in a new bed and nights away from home were long and exhausting.  However things have improved and with planned sleeping arrangements we are able to enjoy our time away.  This weekend we went to my sister-in-law’s in Exeter.  Its quite an easy journey so after an early start we were there for mid Saturday morning.  It was not only us at the house as my Father-in-law was staying too, celebrating his birthday with all his family.  It was lovely to be able to give him such a special family day, birthdays are not about expensive presents but giving time and enjoying each others’ company.

As the fantastic weather has continued, we went to Exeter quay to take a boat down the river to a pub for lunch.  It was one of the most remarkable pubs I have visited, not easily accessible by car , so patrons tend to row, paddle or sail to it or use the adjacent cycle path.  It had the biggest pub garden I have ever seen, a field filled with outdoor activities, an adventure playground, volleyball court and table tennis perfect for its clientele.  Despite being busy, our lunch was served very quickly and the mezze platter was delicious.  After lunch we pottered along the tow path and returned home for a play in the garden, cake and a lazy night of relaxed chat.

Its been an exciting time in British politics with the Scottish referendum this week.  Whilst the no vote has meant we remain a United Kingdom, the constitutional consequences will change the politics and culture of our government.  Whilst for some this will be of little interest, I am loving it all.  I have no idea what the correct term is but I will happily call myself a bit of a political geek.  I studied politics at University and have avidly followed it since without actively participating within a political party.  Despite hating the politician at the time, I was floored (as was Kinnock) by Margaret Thatcher when as part of a 6th form London trip I got to watch PMQ from the balcony of the Houses of Commons, this remains one of the highlights of my life.  I can still remember the poise and elegance of Margaret Thatcher, how she didn’t look like she was listening and then responded with razor quick wit and detailed answers, she was an incredible performer and whilst I could never agree with her politics, I will never forget her faultless performance.  Another highlight was election night in 1997, the election of New Labour, I will always cherish the night spent with my political ally at home my Dad, the disbelief at the scale of the landslide, the hope and belief that flooded the country, my first experience of ‘winning’ an election.  I still get emotional about that amazing night.  By a happy coincidence, I was at a conference near Buckingham Palace on the day Gordon Brown succeeded Tony Blair and so nipped out at lunchtime to see Tony Blair drive into the palace to resign and for Gordon Brown to arrive to be appointed Prime Minister, another brilliant experience.  its been interesting in this referendum for Gordon Brown to emerge as one of the heroes, to me he has always been a very skilled and passionate politician, but his discomfort at sound bites and media awkwardness appeared to make him a figure of ridicule in the press, he deserved a lot more recognition and respect.

Since leaving University I have missed the opportunities for political discussion and debate, I find it difficult to discuss politics with my husband whose views are very different to mine and conversations with friends and colleagues centre on other interests.  Consequently I listen to political analysis and comment on Radio 4, read the quality press and am appreciating the new medium of social media.  For me events like the Independence referendum are wonderful, a rare opportunity to immerse myself in politics, stay up all night to listen to results and then pore over analysis, can politics really be a guilty pleasure?   One of the highlights of the Indy ref has been the introduction of the vote for 16 and 17 year olds, I was informed and opinionated at that age and to see such levels of engagement and participation among the Scottish youth has been inspiring.  I hope to develop a strong set of values in our children which I hope will make them want to be active, thoughtful citizens.