Hustings are taking place in churches and church halls across our diocese as the countdown begins to the General Election on May 7.
You can find your local hustings events and learn more about the guidelines for holding these events on the general election page. http://www.westyorkshiredales.anglican.org/content/general-election-2015
You can also read the 52-page pastoral letter from the House of Bishops (Who is My Neighbour?) urging the people and parishes of the Church of England to consider the question how can we "build the kind of society which many people say they want but which is not yet being expressed in the vision of any of the parties?"
Many faith communities are taking the lead in organising hustings events to provide a neutral space for the different political parties to have a voice ahead of polling day. There are 28 constituencies across the whole of the diocese of West Yorkshire and the Dales with seven key seats to be won, Barnsley East, Leeds West, Leeds Central, Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford, Morley and Outwood, Pudsey and Harrogate and Knaresborough.
This Thursday, April 16 there will be a hustings event at Halifax Minster from 6.30-8pm when local people can meet and hear more from their candidates for the Halifax seat.
The same evening hustings will take place in Wensleydale School, with Leyburn with candidates for the Richmond constituency and has been organised by St Matthews Church , Leyburn. It will start at 7pm.
On Sunday (19 April), Keighley Churches Together has organised a General Election Hustings at 6.30pm, at the Salvation Army, High Street, Keighley
On Monday, April 20, the Bishop of Huddersfield will chair hustings in Huddersfield Parish Church which will hear from Barry Sheerman, for Labour, Andrew Cooper for the Greens, Itrat Ali for the Conservatives, Zulfiqar Ali for the Liberal Democrats, Mike Forster for the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition and Rob Butler for UKIP.
The event will start at 7.30pm and has been organised by the Diocese of West Yorkshire and the Dales, Churches Together in Huddersfield Town Centre and Huddersfield Interfaith Council who have organised a second event when people can meet their six different Prospective Parliamentary Candidates in New North Road Baptist Church on Wed 29th at 7.30pm.
There will be a Hustings Meeting for the Shipley Constituency at St Cuthbert’s Church in Wrose on Wednesday 22 April at 7.30pm.
Churches Together in Ilkley are also holding a Hustings with all seven prospective parliamentary candidates at the same time on Wednesday 22 April, 7.30pm at Ben Rhydding Methodist Church Hall, opposite Ben Rhydding Post Office.
St Giles’ Church, Pontefract will provide the stage that will pitch Labour stalwart, Yvette Cooper with rookie Tory politician Beth Prescott and former Yorkshire and Humber MEP Edward Macmillan for the Liberal Democrats.
St Giles’ church will open its doors on Friday April 24 for the hustings event that will be chaired by the Bishop of Wakefield, the Rt Revd Tony Robinson in the café area from 5.30-7.30pm. The candidates will speak from 5.30-6.30pm before questions from 6.30-7.30pm.
The vicar of St Giles’, the Revd Bob Cooper, said: “With a general election less than two weeks away, we hope this hustings event will give voters an opportunity to hear the views of their local candidates in an open and transparent way and we are pleased as the local church to be able to provide that neutral space to do just that.”
St George’s Leeds is the venue for Leeds Central hustings on Sunday 26 April, 4-5.30pm. In the chair is vicar, Jonathan Clark, with Hilary Benn (Labour), Michael Hayton (Green) and Luke Senior (UKIP).
Candidates for the Parliamentary Constituency of Skipton & Ripon will take part at a Question Time and Hustings being held at Ripon Cathedral on April 28th at 7.30pm
Wakefield Cathedral will hold hustings for local people to hear from their five prospective parliamentary candidates for the Conservatives, Labour, Lib Dems and UKIP at 1pm on Wed April 29. The event will be chaired by the Dean, the Very Revd Jonathan Greener.
Please send us news of any events being hosted by your church to web@westyorkshiredales.anglican.org