Response to Leigh Redman’s personal attacks (towards me) and questions about him not participating in any hustings/questions, including the business community, in the local area.

I really enjoyed participating in the school and business hustings ahead of the July 4 general election. Thank you to the other candidates who took part. It was clear that the young people, as students at the school, learned an enormous amount from each MP candidate present. Politicians need to engage with young people at every opportunity. The decisions we make today will affect their lives as they grow up.

I accepted the invitation to participate in the Churches Together and LGBTQ+ hustings in Burnham-On-Sea and Highbridge, respectively. Churches Together run election hustings across Somerset and they have run them before in Burnham-on-Sea. It was extremely disappointing to have both these events cancelled due to declining of invitations from candidates, including the Labour candidate.

Leigh Redman has made a deliberate decision to not attend any hustings. This has significantly played a part in there being no hustings in Burnham and Highbridge (a significant proportion of the new Bridgwater constituency). Instead of being honest about this and standing up to scrutiny, Leigh Redman is deflecting away from his absence to attack me – just me – even though it is his deliberate actions and his choice to not attend. The other candidates have also publicly spoken about his absence, but it’s only me that he has decided to attack. I expected more from Leigh.

If Leigh Redman was a serious candidate to be the next MP for Bridgwater, he would stand up to scrutiny. He has had ample opportunity to do so. Instead, Leigh’s attitude is to evade questions from the electorate, indicating that he would be another absent MP that residents have become accustomed to for the last 23 years.