GUEST POST: Streatham Hustings Reviewed

GUEST POST!! The following post is written by PianoMan, a friend and reader who thought it only fair that the Streatham hustings (held the same night as the Tooting one) get represented up here too. So blame him! Might be useful for anyone within the constituency wanting relatively even-handed information to go by...

The Streatham Hustings was an admittedly tame affair, but probably all the more enjoyable and enlightening for it.


Church-organised, the audience was predominantly Christian and, well, let's say just a tad more charitable than your average hissing and booing Question Time mob. At our rather more reserved event, a smattering of applause followed absolutely everything that was said (even questions) - damning praise indeed!

The debate's moderator was a kindly likeable old Christian gent and clearly clued up on his political issues. But Paxman he was not, and despite repeatedly and firmly (well, firmly for a kindly, likeable old Christian gent) telling candidates to stick to 1 minute long answers, the candidates routinely took as long as they liked. This had a similar effect (on the MPs) as when I find myself at an 'all-you-can-eat' buffet: I may well be stuffed full already, but I'm still going to eat as much as I can anyway. Because I can. And so the candidates tended to ramble on even if they had nothing left to say. Because they could.

As a result, there was no time for debate between the candidates and limited time for questions. And some of the (relatively few) questions perhaps seemed a little more suited to a Miss World contest - "if you had only one prayer for Streatham, what would it be?".

Finally (let's get all the negativity done!), the degree of consensus between the candidates perhaps betrayed a lack of gritty political debate in favour of too much aspirational rhetoric. I mean, you can't really disagree with people saying repeatedly that poverty is bad, and education is good. At times, I would have liked more specifics.

Okay - negative stuff over - this absolutely did not mean the hustings was a waste of time. On the contrary, its flaws actually had major advantages. The candidates were obviously relaxed by the good-natured audience, and seemed able to show us who they were and what they were about (good and bad). I also got the impression that, oddly I suppose, they didn't seem desperate to impress the audience at all costs. This lack of cynicism was refreshing and at times enlightening (see later.) The whole thing was also decidedly light on party political backstabbing, and juvenile insults, which perhaps made it less exciting but, again, more refreshing.

Now, the candidates:

Chuka Umunna (Labour candidate) was the night's biggest cheese. Umanna has been held up as a potential ‘British Obama’ by the media. He’s written for everyone from The Guardian to the FT, has appeared on Question Time and Daily Politics, has founded an influential online magazine and is a leading member of influential Labour pressure group Compass.

At first I was on the verge of huge disappointment. Chuka seemed a bit bored, a bit disinterested, a bit like he was above the whole event (football anoraks: think Berbatov playing at Tottenham) – almost as if he simply felt the need to tick the Christian box, before moving onwards and upwards. And this – conveyed by slightly clumsy body language, and a couple of impatient answers - came across as arrogance. (Note: Chuka later said that his biggest weakness was being able to 'read him like a book', especially when he was bored). I also noticed that in his first few responses he seemed inclined to use the term 'helluva lot', well, one hell of a lot - especially considering the possibly conservative audience.

But, pretty soon he started to warm up, exhibiting some of the rhetorical flourishes that have him marked out as a rising star. The only candidate to have been born and raised in the area, his knowledge on and passion for the area was evident and undeniable. His long impassioned answer on how we can tackle gang crime in Streatham had the audience rapt and inspired. One got the impression that if Streatham wanted an impressive, dynamic and passionate ambassador, then we could do a lot worse than putting our tick next to Chuka's name come May 6th.

The green party was represented by Rebecca Findlay. My main doubt about the green party is that we all know their main issue is the environment, but are all of the other policies that are essential to our lives (and indeed essential if we want to begin to tackle climate change) an afterthought? Ms Findlay actually did a good job of assuaging these doubts – she was composed, a good speaker, with a decent command of facts and policy. Sometimes I worried about her pragmatism – I'm a fairly liberal chap, but actually think that big companies (such as Tesco) would be of benefit to the High Road area, and wouldn't necessarily want her to be campaigning against it (so long as smaller businesses were somehow supported.)

Would she get more votes as a mainstream candidate? Yes, definitely. Did she convince people that green was not a wasted vote? I would say no.

The Tory party candidate was one Rahous Bhansali. A personable chap – he came across as the most humble and humorous candidate. Flaws? At times he sounded like he was still rehearsing his political speeches in front of the mirror – doing his best David Cameron impression - rather than engaging with a local audience, on local issues. The answers were a little vague, a little too aspirational and didn't imbue me with confidence that he knew the Streatham constituency particularly well nor would be the much needed fierce advocate for the area.

Finally, the Liberal Democrat candidate was Chris Nicholson. He's a Clapham chap (accountant) who campaigned against the closure of the Post Office and Ice Rink, and, from the recent polls, would appear to be the main opposition for Chuka. He also has previous political experience as a local counsellor, and a government advisor (on economics). At the time, I didn't know much about Chris Nicholson, other than having got fairly sick of receiving his cheap looking literature through the post which said nothing else but to 'vote Chris Nicholson if you want to get rid of Gordon Brown's tired old Labour government'. (Note: since, I have received slightly more informative fliers).

However, from his performance at the Hustings I would argue that his negative literature has not done this (clearly thoughtful, warm, humble and passionate) man justice. Motivated by his personal Christian faith (which is about as much as he said on the matter), he said (believably) that he was in politics because he wanted to see more social justice. Very much in line with his party's manifesto, Chris was passionate about fairer taxes that would put money back into the pockets of the constituency's poorest residents. I was also impressed by his mention of getting alongside the marginalised in society – in particular asylum seekers and immigrants. One got the impression, from his humility and lack of bluster, that Chris was the kind of MP that would be approachable and accountable to his constituents - particularly striking in a time where most people have lost their faith in arrogant and greedy politicians.

My vote? Well, firstly, as someone who is fairly left-leaning, I would generally not consider voting Tory, since I do not feel the party at large is committed to the redistribution of wealth, and the equality and fairness that Lib Dems / Labour are traditionally in favour of. I also feel that the Tory candidate here was not sufficiently strong enough to join what is essentially a two-horse race between Labour and Lib Dems (for this seat). Likewise the green candidate, who may have gained more attention were she a candidate for one of the mainstream parties. But as things stand, I think that both a Tory and Green vote would be wasted.

So Nicholson or Ummuna? I would argue that both would be worthy representatives for the area. Both evidently passionate about being advocates for the poor and marginalised, Ummuna would lead from the front (he is clearly going places, and would hopefully take Streatham with him), whereas I feel confident that Nicholson would get alongside his constituents and fight their causes for him.

It's all your choice anyway (providing you live in Streatham of course!) The great thing is that the Hustings gave me a new passion for the area, and fresh belief in the people that want to be our representatives.