A voter says she feels ‘let down’ after her question about second jobs for MPs was pulled last minute from the hustings event.
Dawn Adams, of Whaplode, understood that her question was on the agenda the day before Thursday’s hustings in Holbeach Methodist Church but was later told that it had been removed.
Candidates Rhys Baker (Green Party), Sir John Hayes (Conservative) and Mark Le Sage (Independent) were posed questions from voters. The panel also included Craig Jackson, representing Reform Party candidate Matthew Swainson. Jack Braginton (Liberal Democrat) and Paul Hilliar (Labour) could not attend.
Dawn now wants an explanation on why her question was removed from the agenda.
This website has been told unofficially that it was pulled at the request of a panel member.
Speaking after the hustings Dawn said: “I feel let down – why was my question pulled?
“If we live in a democracy where was my question?”
Dawn said she felt very passionate about her question and felt that it was more important than some of the others.
She also does not feel that MPs, who earn £91,346 from April this year, should be taking second jobs.
A spokesman for South Holland Methodist Church Circuit said: “We received a large number of suggested questions for candidates, of which a selection were shortlisted and shared with all candidates in advance of the event. After considering feedback on these, two of the draft questions were changed as they appeared to have been directed at specific candidates. The revised questions offered a chance for the whole panel to debate a wide range of topics including a mix of local and national issues.
“We did then offer an opportunity at the end for all candidates/representative to talk about a question they wished they had been asked and what they would say in response, and also invited people to continue discussions informally over refreshments afterwards. We feel that the process followed was fair to all candidates and enabled a wide range of issues to be discussed.”