29 Jun 2024
Following on from the Harpenden hustings, and with tongue still planted firmly in cheek, we’re back to see what happened at the St Albans Cathedral event…
Along to the St Albans hustings which have proved to be the perfect snoozefest. St Albans Abbey needs to sort out its sound system as the candidates were barely audible at times.
Unlike Harpenden, the proceedings were conducted with harmony and dignity. Probably the weight of a thousand years of devotional prayer has seeped into the stones and emits calming essence to ward off bad behaviour. The candidates all had the opportunity to bore for Britain and took full advantage of it.
There were no surprises. The Lib Dems really care, talk to a lot of people in the street and share your values (whatever they are).
The Conservatives are in crouch mode and making sure that they limit the damage from national politics and are sticking to the party line, except in some surprising cases, where the candidate’s real views shone through. Labour are smug about the polls, virtue signalling like it’s gone out of fashion and hate the Tories.
The Greens are refreshingly honest, even about their famous hypocrisy (do what I say, not what I do).
The SDP are nice, but it’s not clear what on Earth they stand for.
Reform doesn’t like Johny Foreigner.
The Heritage Party… who?
Incidently, a little bird told me that the hustings in Marlborough School were slightly more lively. A love-in amongs the candidates on 20mph speed limits, resulted in each raising the stakes about their concern for the little kiddies, culminating in the Lib Dem saying that people not driving at 20mph in built-up areas were child and pet killers. This was a step too far for some people in the audience who shook off the lethargy and told her she was being utterly ridiculous.
Daisy Cooper said a lot about how hard she works (very hard indeed). Not so much about how much she has achieved. To be fair, it is hard to achieve a lot when for much of your time in office, your party would struggle to field a football team.
Apparently, she reads a lot of emails and persuaded Tory ministers to make changes to some policies. Given the Tories’ special talent of ignoring advice even from their own side, this is a real achievement (aka pull the other one). She loves the hospitality industry and every other industry and the High Street and anything and anyone else who might vote for her. Daisy has a great capacity to emote, but is in imminent danger of tipping into parody. Breast beating about the cost of living crises and crumbling schools doesn’t ring true when you then complain about how affluent St Albans is with house prices the highest in the country outside London. The narrative needs a bit of work. Her best bit was the little tear in her eye and catch in her throat as she recounted the story of the resident who stopped her in the street to say how wonderful Ed Davey is. That wouldn’t have been a sub-postmaster then?
The politically astute realise that James Spencer, the Conservative banging on about where he had gone to school (state schools in St Albans) and where he and his parents live (St Albans) is a direct rebuke to Daisy Cooper, who has been spinning that he has no connection to the city.
Both boring and untrue. Liberal Democrats were more creative in the past when they invented racy stories about Peter Lilley or nastier with their attacks on the Harpenden candidate. Spencer sounds like a middle of the road, centrist sort of Tory, leaning to the left socially and to the right fiscally.
Pretty much like Cameron in 2010. He even works with charities. Like Labour, he was well versed in his party’s manifesto and mostly kept to the script. A big surprise was his dislike of local housing targets and complete antipathy to building on Green Belt. He supports climate change initiatives, more spend on defence, et al while wanting tax reductions. Good luck with that!!
Sophia Bhatti, Labour’s gift to sub-editors everywhere, did not live up to her name but was cookie cutter Labour woman, including her hatred of the Tories who are responsible for all the woes of the world.
She paraded her international connections, having worked at the UN. Her answer to everything was to recite Labour policy or if in doubt call for meetings (heaven forfend you actually do something). She stuck to her script (repeat Labour policy/attack the Tories) and did not say one surprising thing. Her inability to attend the Marlborough hustings revealed a hidden gem though.
Young Emma Turnbull, the London Colney councillor shone. She humanised her party’s policies, was engaging and was too nice to be convincing attacking the Tories. Apparently, from the looks Daisy Cooper gave her, she realised she was seeing the future. Daisy was the future once.
Simon Grover, the Green, has swallowed the Climate Change Kool-Aid and thinks we are all going to burn. However, this does not stop him driving a car.
In truth, much of what he said was sensible and thought through.
More social housing, save the Green Belt (bit of a conflict there), tax breaks for people to downsize to solve the housing crises, protect the environment, address global warming by removing dependence on fossil fuels plus lots of new rights and social benefits.
All worthy of support but not much about who pays.
Seeing him explain his concept of preparing for Peace not War to a squaddie would be worth paying good money for. Best (intentional) joke of the hustings so far, when he waved a huge wadge of Liberal Democrat leaflets, and said they obviously didn’t like trees.
John Leroy Dowdle, Reform, Daffyd Morriss, the Heritage Party and Stewart Satterly, the Social Democratic Party all seemed nice guys out of their depth when up against the leading four. Their views morphed into one. Until they all get a bit more distinctive, they won’t break through.
So not many surprises, they were all credible and each was a good representative for their party. Although always remember the old joke: politicians are like nappies, you change them often and for much the same reason.
