As part of my role as convenor of a sub-committee of Presbytery (a local gathering of clergy and elders of the Church of Scotland – one of its ‘Courts’) I have been asked to consider organising a hustings in the run up to the Scottish Parliamentary Elections.
The committee I convene is ‘Church & Community’ and so far this year we have been pretty focussed on events surrounding the two air bases within the bounds of the Presbytery of Moray – the hot political topic for the area at the moment. The future of the bases is a defence issue, which is a reserved matter. But the impact of any closures (I am reminded that RAF Kinloss has not closed and will not be fully closed and that there will still be some work happening at and from the base) will have a dramatic effect on the local economy, schools, support services etc – all devolved matters. This will obviously have an impact on campaigning for the election.
The Scottish Churches Parliamentary Office has produced a good paper on how to plan such events and I have been studying this in order to get some advice as to how to go about running such an event. As well as a traditional Hustings (a panel with questions from the floor) they give the suggestion of a ‘Speed hustings’ and ‘virtual hustings’ both of which I like. The Speed Hustings give people in small groups a chance to quiz individual candidates for a set amount of time before the candidate moves on to another group. Each candidate then is given a short amount of time at the close to say a few words.  The virtual Hustings suggests issuing each candidate with a set of questions to answer in writing by a certain date and then simply publish the answers.
This is where I would like your help – what questions as a faith community should the churches be asking of the candidates?
Also – just out of curiosity, are hustings meetings still relevant in 2011?
#1 by Richard Thomson on February 21, 2011 - 12:13 pm
Hi Shuna,
“what questions as a faith community should the churches be asking of the candidates?”
Only you can decide that but in short, I’d say ask whatever you like. While candidates are likely to be asked to do hustings by special interest groups from time to time (local business groups, the National Farmers Union, tenants’ groups, trade unions etc), far and away the most successful ones are those which are open to the public and which allow people to ask whatever they wish, rather than confining the topic to one particular area of interest.
Those belonging to ‘faith communities’ are in my experience interested in exactly the same subjects as the public at large. At the two church-organised hustings I attended as a candidate last year, the topics were as diverse as the economy, Trident, fair trade, the state of the roads and tackling drug abuse. The best hustings are always the ones which bring in the widest cross-section of the community. It may also be best, from the point of view of the churches, to be seen to be facilitating the event rather than directing or dominating the direction it takes on the night, thereby making the hustings open and welcoming to everyone of all faiths and none. You want to bring as many people through your doors as you can, after all.
“Also – just out of curiosity, are hustings meetings still relevant in 2011?”
Yes, of course they are!
On the 2 occasions I’ve been a Parliamentary candidate, it’s usually been the local community groups and churches which have taken the lead in organising hustings. The biggest hustings I took part in this time round saw about 400 people turn out in Ellon Academy.
I’m not convinced that they ever convince all that many people to change their voting intentions. However, it does give those that are interested the opportunity to see their candidates face to face, and to speak directly with them afterwards if they wish. While ‘speed hustings’ might be good, you do run the risk of particularly strong-willed individuals dominating the group dynamic (and I don’t necessarily mean the candidates!). Virtual hustings can also be useful, but they do allow candidates to get away with a ‘cut and paste’ job from their manifestos, rather than giving you the chance to tease anything more nuanced out of them.
That’s the beauty of an old-fashioned hustings. In an increasingly TV-dominated election discourse and given the difficulties for a candidate in getting around even a fraction of the doors and community events, hustings are one of the few chances a voter can get to test the candidates out directly, see them challenge each other and to explore a range of arguments in greater depth than other forms of engagement allow. They also allow everyone to see how candidates react to particular questions
If you like, I can put you in touch with the Minister who organised the final hustings of the Gordon Westminster campaign in Inverurie. I’m sure he’d be more than willing to share his thoughts on the experience with you.
Regards,
Richard
#2 by Shuna on February 21, 2011 - 1:21 pm
Thanks Richard – if we do organise a hustings it will be as facilitators and will be open to everyone. I for one would be at pains to make sure this was not seen as a Church event but for anyone that is interested.
The reason I liked the ‘speed hustings’ idea was that it would allow the quieter people a chance to speak – a well facilitated group should not end up with one person monopolising. I have often found that some of the best ideas come out of small group discussion because people who would not feel confident to speak up in a open floor feel more comfortable and able to do so.
Thanks for your offer to put me in touch with the Inverurie Minister – if it was either of the Church of Scotland ones then I know them both – I did my very first training placement in the town.
#3 by Richard Thomson on February 21, 2011 - 2:09 pm
Hi Shuna,
Fair point about the speed hustings. Done well, it would allow for more intimacy and spontenaity, as well as for more questions to be put.
Rev Longmuir at St Andrew’s organised our Inverurie hustings, which took place in the church itself.
Richard
#4 by Douglas McLellan on February 21, 2011 - 3:44 pm
Hello
The problem with speed hustings is that there would probably be a lack of real depth to the event as every table would ask the same set of questions (perhaps with one or two variations).
MSP hustings are important to the candidates and to the attendees and may even benefit democracy but I would argue, somewhat perversely, that at a national level they don’t matter at all. Very few people go into a hustings as a floating voter and fewer still would let a hustings affect their vote. At a national level there are very few seats that change hands over a handful of votes.
In terms of “what questions as a faith community should the churches be asking of the candidates?” as said above, most if not all, questions would be relevant to the wider community. And I wonder what questions that would be exclusively from a faith community could be answered by a candidate who didn’t share that faith.