Michael Fabricant has dismissed claims he snubbed local voters by not appearing at a hustings event ahead of the general election.
The Conservative hopeful was the only candidate who did not attend the event at Speakers’ Corner at the weekend.
The Green Party said he had shown “disregard” for his fellow candidates and local voters.
But Mr Fabricant said a prior engagement meant he couldn’t attend – and said claims of a snub were “immature”.
He explained: “I had made it clear to the organisers for weeks that I was unable to be in Lichfield that day and that I had appointments in Burntwood on Saturday.
“Burntwood is no less important than Lichfield.
“Over 300 people attended the hustings in the cathedral and were seated indoors and had the opportunity to meet and question me in detail and provided a better opportunity than passers by in the street.
“So talking about ‘disregard’ is immature, opportunistic and inaccurate.”
“I had made it clear to the organisers for weeks that I was unable to be in Lichfield that day and that I had appointments in Burntwood on Saturday.
“Burntwood is no less important than Lichfield.
“Over 300 people attended the Hustings in the Cathedral and were seated indoors and had the opportunity to meet and question me in detail and provided a better opportunity than passers by in the street.
“Talking about ‘disregard’ is immature, opportunistic and inaccurate.”
But Labour county councillor Sue Woodward said Mr Fabricant should have made it to the event.
She said: “Hustings are in diary for months – the Tory candidate could have rearranged his visit to Burntwood. Mind you, he only visits at general election time.”
The candidates standing in the Lichfield constituency in May are:
- Andy Bennetts – Class War
- Michael Fabricant – Conservatives
- Robert Pass – Green Party
- John Rackham – UKIP
- Paul Ray – Lib Dem
- Chris Worsey – Labour
Good for him.
Too many election stunts as it is.
It would seem anyone influenced by shallow irrelevance is more likely to vote labour.
He only had to turn up for two hours 11am – 1pm inbetween his campaign in deepest darkest Burntwood. It Shows a deep disregard for constituents in his “seat” for an event he knew about weeks before and could not be bothered to attend. The event was managed exceptionally well by the minister Ian Hayter from Wade Street Church and it allowed the public to put forward some very reasonable questions.
By staying away he avoided having to answer some of those hard questions handled so well by the other parties candidates. Immature and opportunistic?
it was a good natured and enjoyable event, and Michael would have added a lot to it, if he’d been there. Well done to the Speaker’s Corner organisers – and remember – you don’t need permission to turn up and use Speaker’s Corner. It’s there for all.
Haha! I haven’t laughed so hard in a long time!
The bald truth is that Michael Fabricant was too frightened to defend the Tories record in front of a lively hustings crowd.
Enjoyable event. Local democracy at its best.
Same here John PMSL so to speak,Would been funny if Andy Bennetts put the wig on lol
Mr Fabrication had such a hard time trying to defend himself at the cathedral hustings he was just to afraid to face upto his constituents again. Glad he didn’t turn up would have missed the wig on a stick….so funny I’m still laughing about it now. Really good event …never thought politics could be so entertaining. Well done to both the Green Party and the Independant candidates a pair of very clever fellas with brilliant refreshing ideas and policies. The rest seemed to be the same ole …….
It is a bit rich for Mr Fabricant to accuse others of being immature – have you seen his Twitter feed over the last 18 months or so?
I’m all for making use of such forms of communication and fully appreciate the need to modify the way you “talk” on such platforms as it is a more informal style of communicating.
My complaint is that the vast majority of the communication Mr Fabricant indulges in is juvenile and puerile attempts at humour – even if some of it is self-depricating, it doesn’t make it right.
He rarely seems to use Twitter to engage constructively with constituents on matters of local concern. I accept he may want constituents to contact him via email and his website on such matters, but he should be flexible and adaptable enough to change if others prefer a different approach.
The world doesn’t revolve around him – other candidates ensured their campaign diaries were free for last Saturday’s hustings, so why should everyone else change to accommodate him?
As for the criticism he levelled at the Cathedral event that a lot of the questions were a bit samey, he seems to miss the point – they were the questions the voters wanted answering as they were the isssues they were most concerned about.
It begs the question does Mr Fabricant want to listen, or would he prefer to dictate?
I agree with Staffs Lass. The Green’s Rob Pass and Class War’s Andy Bennetts brought an energy to the event that would have been missing. Bennetts description of UKIP as a kind of racist last of the summer wine was brilliant and I believe he brought the wig on a stick.
Pass has a genuine passion that is infectious. The other candidates just couldn’t live up to that on the day and were almost completely defensive.
A step back in time and in my book, that is good. We need to look back in some respects as we throw out the old ways at our peril. I thoght Rob Pass provided us with a vision of what could be if we had the guts and will to step up to the mark. Its simple! This plan will not work and the sooner we realise the better. Many thanks to the organizers. We need to have more of these. Our MP should be put through this every week!