 The prospective Conservative MP for Loughborough, Nicky Morgan, recently came head-to-head with one of her electoral rivals, the Liberal Democrat’s parliamentary candidate, at a Business Hustings organised by Loughborough Chamber of Trade and Commerce.
Although candidates from all three major parties were invited to take part in the debate, including the current MP for Loughborough, Andy Reed, only the Conservative and Liberal Democrat candidates accepted the invitation. ‘I believe it is incredibly important for anyone standing for elected office to be accessible to those living in the Loughborough constituency and to be clear and upfront about my own views and what I think I could do to improve life for locals as the MP for this constituency’. Nicky feels so strongly, in fact, about this issue that she herself wrote an open letter to the current MP for this constituency leading up to this event, asking for him to take part in the debate; but she received no response. ‘I agreed to do this debate because I think an open, clear and honest debate is a great way for people to get to know their candidates in person, to raise any issues or concerns with each or all face-to-face and to ultimately decide who they think would best represent Loughborough constituents in the House of Commons’, said Nicky Morgan.
The panellists were both asked to give a ten minute speech to the audience about themselves, their involvement in and vision for the local businesses and their relevant business experience. Questions were then taken from the audience.
As a Solicitor specialising in company law, Nicky was able to detail the latest legislation and Government initiatives of concern to businesses at this time and, drawing from her hard earned experiences gained as prospective Conservative MP for Loughborough for the last six years, describe the difference in how the Conservatives and other parties would tackle these problems. Notably, the prospective Conservative MP took the opportunity to highlight the fact that 13.5% shops in this constituency are now unoccupied, which is above the Government average; explaining that she is running the Support Our Small Shops campaign to try and raise awareness of the difficulties faced by small shops in the constituency today and is hopeful that the campaign with lead to more support for these shops. Nicky Morgan also highlighted the fact that unemployment in the constituency increased by 98% between September 2007 and September 2008 illustrating the difficulties that red tape and a rise in Employee and Employers tax and also National Insurance have created for business in this constituency. Recently she organised a successful Careers Workshop to help the long-term unemployed get back to work. ‘I am always more than happy to share my views and opinions and indeed welcome the opportunity to tell Loughborough constituents about all the hard work that I have been carrying out on their behalf over the last six years, because I want residents to know that I am a hard working woman of action and not just words’ said Nicky.
The buzz that filled the room as guests filed out after the debate suggested that audience members had not only enjoyed the speech but found the points raised during the evening as a whole both interesting and informative. Chartered Marketer for Results Zone, Paul Fileman ,was in the audience when the debate was taking place and he said, “It was great to hear first hand from two of our local candidates about their perspective on policies that affect business. Discussion was wide ranging on the evening, and we all got a good opportunity to see Nicky and Mike put under pressure on local business issues. Members commented after the meeting to say that they had found the meeting really useful.”
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