Just a brief post on tonight’s chaotic, almost inaudible, strangely pointless hustings event at St Matthias Church in Poplar. (I’ll do a fuller one when I find time tomorrow).
I came away feeling that two of the candidates performed very well in the circumstances, one remained quietly dignified under fire, a fourth did OK and a fifth was pretty much out of his depth (and I have to say, that’s not a bad thing – the atmosphere was at times poisonous).
I’d say that, in terms of content, Lib Dem John Griffiths (who landed blows on everyone) just about edged it from the Conservatives’ Neil King, while Labour’s Helal Abbas, when he could be heard above the heckling from Lutfur Rahman’s young supporters, probably came third. The Greens’ Alan Duffell is, I think, beginning to wonder what political cesspit his party’s landed him in.
As I say, more detail tomorrow
