Row over rival event sparks ‘hustings battle’ in Fareham and Waterlooville
A Fareham and Waterlooville election hustings had been organised at Knowle Village Hall for today, but confusion started when the Fareham Liberal Democrats organised a hustings on the same night for the same candidates at Cams Hill School in Shearwater Avenue.
A press release from the Lib Dems, titled
‘Battle of the Hustings’ was sent out claiming Conservative candidate Suella Braverman, who has represented the area since 2015, would not attend and the hustings organised by Wickham and Knowle Parish Council for today had been cancelled.
They said an event had therefore been set up at Cams Hill School and the headteacher would moderate. But the party then claimed the Knowle hustings were re-booked and the Lib Dems excluded.
A joint statement from three candidates, Suella Braverman (Con), Gemma Furnival (Lab) and Kevan Chippindall-higgin (Reform UK), was issued and while they admitted they may disagree on many things, they criticised the ‘misinformation’ from the Lib Dems as the Knowle hustings are going ahead.
Conservative campaigner and former Fareham Council leader Sean Woodward said : “The Liberal Democrats have tried to take down one hustings, replace it with another and it’s blown up in their faces.”
The Cams Hill School event, now cancelled, had attracted 80 bookings.
Reform UK’S Mr Chippindall-higgin said: “The hustings audience at Knowle Village Hall will end up being unbalanced and this cannot be right.
"I am more than happy to meet the other candidates head on with regard to record and policy but this sort of activity is beyond the pale.”
Liberal Democrat candidate Bella Hewitt is now confirmed as attending the Knowle Village Hall hustings, along with
Tory, Labour and Reform candidates.
In response to the joint statement, the Lib Dems said the alternative hustings had been organised as they thought it was clear a “larger, more central and accessible, venue ” should be used. They said people were struggling to book places and there were concerns some would have difficulty reaching the event by public transport.
The joint statement from Conservative,
Labour and Reform UK, Fareham and Waterlooville parliamentary candidates for the general election on July 4 said: “We are taking the unprecedented step of releasing a joint statement to clear up the confusion about the planned hustings event on June 28.
"We will both be attending the independently organised event run by Wickham Parish Council, held at Knowle Village Hall.
“This was the original event to be planned but the Liberal Democrats tried to organise their own event. They have shared misinformation both with us as candidates and on social media about our planned attendance at both events.
“While this has been reported through the appropriate channels we want to make sure that as many people as possible can attend a hustings event in this election period.
"While we disagree on many things, we both feel very strongly that people deserve the chance to question their potential elected representatives in an open and democratic way.”
The hustings audience at Knowle Village Hall will end up being unbalanced