FOUR?of the five candidates for the general election came to John Kyrle High School on Friday, April 10th for a hustings event; a political debate, which had been organised by Churches Together in Ross and District.

Jesse Norman from the Conservative party, Anna Coda from the Labour party, Lucy Hurds from the Liberal Democrats, and Diana Toynbee from the Green Party were all in attendance. UKIP's Nigel Ely had been unable to attend the event, as his brother had been in hospital, and was recovering from surgery.

The event opened at 7pm, and for the first half hour of the evening, Ross residents could meet their candidates, and speak to them privately. Just after 7.30pm, the debate began.

Reverend Sarah Jones chaired the event. She opened the evening by giving each candidate the chance to introduce themselves and to pitch their party.

Jesse Norman was the first to speak. He said over the past five years of representing Hereford and South Herefordshire in parliament, one of his proudest achievements has been taking on 4000 cases on behalf of local people, over issues such as benefits, healthcare, and Hereford Hospital in particular. Full story in this week's Gazette.