Candidates standing to be Ilkley's next MP will answer questions from the public at an election hustings to be held in the town, and the organisers are seeking suggestions of questions from local residents.
The event will be held on Thursday 27th June at All Saints Church in the centre of Ilkley, and all are welcome — no ticket required. Tea and coffee will be served from 7pm, with the hustings starting at 7.30.
It will also be streamed live on the church's YouTube channel, www.youtube.com/allsaintsilkley
In a first for the Ilkley hustings, signing will be provided by a BSL interpreter.
Conservative Robbie Moore and Labour's John Grogan have both confirmed their attendance. All seven candidates standing in the consituency have been invited. Churches Together in Ilkley, who are organiing the event, are waiting to hear back from other parties.
Questions to ask at the hustings are now being sought. Anybody who lives in the newly renamed constituency of Keighley and Ilkley can suggestion questions for putting to one or more of the candidates, either by filling in the form on the event's webpage at tiny.cc/ilkleyhustings or posting it in the box at the Clarke Foley Community Hub. The deadline for questions is 2pm on Tuesday June 25th.
“This is a great opportunity for us to hear the candidates answering questions the public want to ask,” said a spokesperson for Churches Together in Ilkley. “We're hoping for a wide range of questions, so please do consider submitting one, particularly on any issues local to our area that may not get covered in the national media or party leaders' TV debates.”
Revd Adam Roebuck, curate at All Saints church, added: “We want the event to be accessible to as many Ilkley residents as possible, so we're delighted Keren Seabrook will be providing a live interpretation in BSL and we're keen for people to mention this to any sign language users they know in the area, so those who will benefit from it are aware of it. This plus the YouTube livestream should bring this year's hustings to more people than ever before.”
All Saints Church also provides recycling facilities for items that are hard to recycle elsewhere locally, with recepticles for toothbrushes, empty toothpaste tubes, marigold gloves, crisp packets, and all types of used pens. Those attending the hustings are welcome to bring items to recycle with them.
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