Darlington Churches Together to hold General Election hustings

All five of the town’s wannabe MPs were handed the document which asks them to respond to questions in several policy areas from poverty to criminal justice.

It is titled ‘The Common Good: Building a Community in which all can flourish’, and is prepared by Darlington Churches Together.

It has handed such a document to candidates in every election since 1997, and the latest comes ahead of a hustings event set to be held at St Augustine’s Church later this month.

The five candidates in Darlington, Peter Gibson (Conservative); Lola McEvoy (Labour); Matthew Snedker (Green); Simon Thorley (Liberal Democrat); and Michael Walker (Reform), met with Father Tony Currer, of St Augustines Church, on Tuesday (June 11) evening where they were handed the document.

Father Tony Currer of St Augustine's Church hands out 'The Common Good' statement to Darlington's prospective MPs (L-R) Peter Gibson (Con), Lola McEvoy (Lab), Matthew Snedker (Grn), Simon Thorley (Lib Dem), Michael Walker (Ref). (Image: STUART BOULTON)

They will be asked to respond to the questions it raises on areas such as dealing with child poverty, health priorities, and the migration.

Father Currer told the Echo: “It’s a document that looks at many issues that we are experiencing here, particularly from a Christina perspective.

“We present that to all the candidates. It has some questions in it for them to respond to and it is also in preparation for the hustings event that we will be holding on June 20.

“It is saying don’t vote for what is in your interests, your obligation is to vote for the common good.

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“We think the church can be a force for good to encourage people to vote. We aren’t taking party political views. There are things like the two-child cap for child benefit that we do explicitly call for a particular thing, and for a greater commitment on the environment, so there’s an element of manifesto.

“Politics has become very adversarial internationally and we have lost two MPs who have been murdered, Jo Cox and Sir David Ames. What we also hope to achieve it so make politics more human and collaborative.”

A hustings will be held at Vineyard Church on June 20 at 6.30pm.