This afternoon 5 of the 6 candidates for Deputy Leader of the Labour Party came straight from a large hustings in Coventry to a branch social in Streatham South. We had laid on a good spread for Peter Hain, Hazel Blears, Harriet Harman, Jon Cruddas and Hilary Benn, and a large number of local party members came along to enjoy the sunshine and pick the contending brains. Some people came with very searching questions about party democracy, Iraq, equalities issues, poverty in Africa and a host of other subjects.
It was slightly surreal standing in the garden while the contenders mingled with Streatham members. It was all perfectly amicable and the members were chuffed to bits that these busy political figures had taken time to come to SW16 to hear what the members wanted to ask them before they made their decision about who to vote for.
There's an article in the New Statesman about it here, which rather misses the point that it was intended to be a small, friendly and intimate event, to contrast with the big hustings we will see in the next few weeks:
www.newstatesman.com/200705220003
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