You are viewing 1 of your 1 free articles
Major candidates snub housing hustings
London mayoral candidates Zac Goldsmith and Sadiq Khan both snubbed a pre-election hustings organised by the National Housing Federation (NHF) last night.
The Conservative and Labour candidates both missed the central London event, sending stand-ins to debate against UKIP, Green and Liberal Democrat representatives.
David Orr, chief executive of the NHF, said he was “frustrated and disappointed” by the last-minute withdrawals, which came despite three months’ organisation for the event.
James Murray, cabinet member for housing at Islington Council, stood in for Labour’s Mr Khan at the event, stating the MP wanted to “speak and vote” in a House of Commons debate on Syrian refugees.
However, Mr Khan did not speak in this debate and the vote took place at 9.26pm – more than an hour after the end of the hustings, which were less than five minutes’ walk from parliament.
Stephen Hammond, junior transport minister, stood in for Mr Goldsmith, saying the Conservative candidate was “in Hillingdon with the secretary of state talking to residents about HS2”.
Mr Orr said: “I can’t tell you how frustrating this is and how frustrated and disappointed we are. We have been in conversations with them and their teams for three months and it was only today it became clear they would not attend.
“The only conclusion I can draw is that they considered there was something more important for them this evening than a housing hustings 10 days before an election where all the polling suggests housing is the most important issue.”
At the debate, the Green Party’s Sian Berry suggested reintroducing the Olympic Precept – a council tax used to fund the construction of the Olympic Park – to pay for public housing, and spoke out against “knocking down council estates”.
Caroline Pidgeon of the Liberal Democrats said she would tackle rogue landlords and launch a City Hall building company if elected.
Peter Whittle, for UKIP, said limiting immigration would reduce demand for housing and lower prices.
Current polling puts Mr Khan in the lead for City Hall with 48%, ahead of Mr Goldsmith on 32%. Mr Whittle is a distant third with 7%.
Analysis of the debate is available here.
