Bradford West by-election hustings

A number of organisations in Bradford will be hosting a by-election hustings on Wednesday 21st March.

The event is a partnership between Bradford College students' union, University of Bradford students' union, Bradford Muslim women's council and JUST West Yorkshire, who are all committed to promoting democracy.

The organisations held their first election hustings before the 2010 general election, which led to the victory of Labour incumbent Marsha Singh.

But having served as an MP for 15 years, Singh has been forced to step down, citing serious health problems. His resignation has triggered a by-election, with eight candidates hoping to get the votes on March 29.

Ratna Lachman, direcor of JUST West Yorkshire, said that public hustings were critically important to promoting political accountability.

She said,

“There is considerable cynicism of the democratic process, especially in a ward like Bradford West, where the ‘bradri’ system or clan politics is believed to be the key determinant for which candidate gets voted in. Bradford West faces overwhelming challenges of poverty, deprivation and unemployment and the voters deserve an opportunity to quiz candidates on their respective positions on issues affecting the ward before they cast their votes. We are extremely disappointed that while both the Conservative and Labour parties are fielding candidates in democratic elections, they are refusing to participate in a hustings event, which will give voters an opportunity to make an informed democratic choice. The Labour Party’s position that they will not share the same platform as George Galloway is an affront to democracy and the electorate.”

Selina Ullah, Director of the Bradford Muslim Women’s Council, spoke about how the hustings would give muslim women an opportunity to engage in the political process.

"Over the last few years the Muslim community has been targeted in a range of government policies – from community cohesion, the war on extremism and terrorism and more recently the Coalition government’s integration policy. British foreign policy also remains an important issue for the Muslim electorate. We want to open up political spaces for Muslim women to have an engagement in the democratic process on their own terms and we wanted the Prospective Party Candidates to start engaging with Muslim women voters in their own right. We seriously hope they will reconsider their decision and participate in the forthcoming event.”

The partners involved in organising the event will go ahead with the event without the Labour and Conservative Party candidates as they are committed to an open democratic process in which voters exercise their choice on the basis of issues rather than blind political party allegiances.

The Bradford West by-elections hustings will take place on the 21st of March, 2012 between 6.30 -8.30 pm at University of Bradford Students’ Union AMP Hall, Student Central Building, Longside Lane, Bradford BD7 1DP

Participants and organisers of the event will be available for interviews between 5.30-6.30 p.m.