Epsom & Ewell Hustings

The re-scheduled Epsom & Ewell Hustings on Tuesday evening went off well at St Martin's, where more than 150 people gathered to grill the General Election candidates.

In his opening statement, Lib Dem candidate Steve Gee called on the government to "stop the barbaric assessments of disabled people" in the benefits system.

Jonathan Lees asked the first question, about the increasing use of Foodbanks.

Live commentators on Twitter noted that the Lib Dem and Labour candidates were both coming across well and were clearly the most impressive on the panel.

The Green party candidate was painfully out of her depth, with unrealistic answers to basic questions. When Cannabis came up, she had no idea what her party's policy is, yet the Green party has been in favour of cannabis decriminalisation ever since the party was formed in 1990.

One questioner pointed out the discrepancy between the very rich and the very poor, asking the candidates how they would prevent the gap from widening. For the LibDems, zero hours contracts, housing and childcare are priorities in tackling the gap between the rich and the poor.

There was applause for the question "Why can foreign governments run our trains but our government can't?".

An on-line commentator noted that Chris Grayling might have had a huge majority, but at the hustings he was having a torrid time, being heckled and criticised on all topics. It was really frustrating that while it was clear that he was not impressing the audience, the UK's "first past the post" system means he is likely to be reelected.