St Luke's Church Eccleshill - Articles from "The Link"

Our Election Candidates

For the first time in my career, I was given a chance this year to meet all the general election candidates for my constituency. The meeting took place at St Andrew's Undercliffe on 14th April in the evening.

I was invited by letter from the "Inner Ring Group", which is a partnership of the churches in the centre of Bradford. In the past the Roman Catholics of the area have held meetings to interview the candidates at meetings which were open to the public and advertised in the local Catholic churches. The candidates had been interviewed separately in sequence.

But this year the Bradford Catholic Pastoral Area Council had asked the Inner Ring Group to organise such events in each of the constituencies on an ecumenical basis. The meetings were not to be public meetings.

When I arrived I was asked "Think of a question - quick!" In fact only 14 people turned up -a wasted opportunity. Why not have a meeting open to all church members? I'll be asking for this next time (if I'm still here). But it seems the police thought there might be trouble with the BNP if the meeting was public, and had asked for it to be kept small.

The BNP candidate had said he wasn't coming. The four who did turn up all gave good accounts of themselves. Terry Rooney (the sitting Labour MP) and David Ward (the Liberal Democrat) are both well-known locally through their political activities. Dr Teck Kwong (Conservative) explained how the area in Leicester where he lives is very similar to North Bradford, and as a GP for 22 years he knows the people and problems well. And Steve Schofield (Green Party) works locally in Bradford University (Peace Studies).

It wouldn't be right for me to tell you what I thought of their individual answers to the questions - that would be too much like telling you how to vote. They were all concerned about local bus services, and they were all quizzed on the lack of local NHS dentists, and their views on immigration and asylum. I quizzed them all on how you can make a difference locally at the same time as sitting in Westminster for much of the week. There wasn't a lot said about religion, but there was quite a bit about integrity.

There's a summary of the meeting on our church notice board, written by Martin Bashforth (from St Andrew's). He says: "We were all impressed by the ability, the commitment, and the integrity of all the candidates. We felt that we would be sell served by any one of them as individuals; they all convinced us of their desire to serve the people of North Bradford." I agree with Martin's verdict.

John Hartley

	*St Luke's Church, Eccleshill - The Link* magazine** The Link is published monthly at 40p (Senior Citizens 35p), and we deliver free within the parish and post copies (at the reader's expense) to those who request it. Please contact us if you would like a free copy for a trial period. May 2005, Page 6.
Home Page. Index of articles: by subject, by date. In this issue: (May 2005) Believe in God, Faith (song), General Election, Theatre. Other articles on democracy.	Our Election Candidates For the first time in my career, I was given a chance this year to meet all the general election candidates for my constituency. The meeting took place at St Andrew's Undercliffe on 14th April in the evening. I was invited by letter from the "Inner Ring Group", which is a partnership of the churches in the centre of Bradford. In the past the Roman Catholics of the area have held meetings to interview the candidates at meetings which were open to the public and advertised in the local Catholic churches. The candidates had been interviewed separately in sequence. But this year the Bradford Catholic Pastoral Area Council had asked the Inner Ring Group to organise such events in each of the constituencies on an ecumenical basis. The meetings were not to be public meetings. When I arrived I was asked "Think of a question - quick!" In fact only 14 people turned up -a wasted opportunity. Why not have a meeting open to all church members? I'll be asking for this next time (if I'm still here). But it seems the police thought there might be trouble with the BNP if the meeting was public, and had asked for it to be kept small. The BNP candidate had said he wasn't coming. The four who did turn up all gave good accounts of themselves. Terry Rooney (the sitting Labour MP) and David Ward (the Liberal Democrat) are both well-known locally through their political activities. Dr Teck Kwong (Conservative) explained how the area in Leicester where he lives is very similar to North Bradford, and as a GP for 22 years he knows the people and problems well. And Steve Schofield (Green Party) works locally in Bradford University (Peace Studies). It wouldn't be right for me to tell you what I thought of their individual answers to the questions - that would be too much like telling you how to vote. They were all concerned about local bus services, and they were all quizzed on the lack of local NHS dentists, and their views on immigration and asylum. I quizzed them all on how you can make a difference locally at the same time as sitting in Westminster for much of the week. There wasn't a lot said about religion, but there was quite a bit about integrity. There's a summary of the meeting on our church notice board, written by Martin Bashforth (from St Andrew's). He says: "We were all impressed by the ability, the commitment, and the integrity of all the candidates. We felt that we would be sell served by any one of them as individuals; they all convinced us of their desire to serve the people of North Bradford." I agree with Martin's verdict. John Hartley
Top of page.	This web page was last updated on 5th May 2005.