Putney Debates 2024 Revives Historic Tradition
Aiming to have the biggest programme of meetings in the country
Candidates for the Putney Constituency clockwise from top left: Heiko Khoo - Workers Party of Britain, Kieren McCarthy - Liberal Democrats, Lee Roberts - Conservatives, Fergal McEntee - Green, Eilis Jordan - Independent Moderator not standing for election, Fleur Anderson - Labour. Photos were not available of Felix Burford-Connole - The Rejoin EU Party and Peter Hunter Reform UK
June 21, 2024
In the historic tradition of the 1647 Putney Debates, The Putney Debates 2024 is a series of public meetings and general hustings where the candidates and parties standing in Putney Constituency share their views and present their solutions to the great questions of our time.
The aim is to revive grass-roots democratic participation in the electoral process and be the most intensive and comprehensive election debates taking place anywhere in the country.
A wide range of non-selective public hustings at venues all over the Putney constituency have been organised with the first taking place this Thursday (20 June) at Granard School and continuing until 3 July, the day before the election.
All candidates or their nominated representatives will be allotted equal time to speak and respond to questions and live streaming and recording of all the events is encouraged. The discussions will be independently moderated by local teacher Eilis Jordan.
The organisers say, “The Putney Debates 2024 is an initiative to enliven the democratic process and public participation during this election - drawing on the historical example of the 1647 Putney Debates.
“We believe the Putney Debates 2024 can put Putney on the political map as the place with the most participatory and intensive election campaign in the country.
Videos of each discussion will be published on the Putney Debates 2024 web site.
The Putney Debates are held in publicly funded meeting places booked under the Representation of the People Act 1983 – Section 95 & 96 for the purpose of promoting or procuring the giving of votes in the forthcoming election.
All the Putney Debates are non-selective hustings and are open to the public
SUBJECT |
VENUE |
DATE & TIME |
General Hustings |
West Hill Primary School |
Friday 21 June 6.15pm -8.30pm |
Political and Economic Philosophy - |
Putney Library |
Monday 24 June 6.30pm-8.45pm |
General Hustings |
Ashcroft Technology Academy |
Tuesday 25 June |
War and Peace - People and Planet –What is Britain’s place and role in the world and what should it be? Climate change, the environment, Net Zero policies etc. |
Putney Library |
Wednesday 26 June 6.30pm-8.45pm |
Health and Science what can be done to improve the NHS? What lessons can be learned from Covid? What is the proper relationship between science and society? |
Putney Library |
Thursday 27 June 6.30pm-8.45pm |
Democracy, Power and Parliament– Is Parliamentary democracy in crisis? What reforms, should be considered? Is free speech under threat? What is the role of supranational organisations like the United Nations, the World Economic Forum, the European Union? |
Putney Library |
Friday 28 June 6.30pm-8.45pm |
General Hustings |
Ashcroft Technology Academy |
Saturday 29 June |
Education, Housing, Transport and Urban Life - Crime, National Security and Immigration |
Putney Library |
Monday 1 July |
Technology, AI, and the Future of Humanity |
Bradlehow School |
Tuesday 2 July |
General Hustings |
Roehampton Church of England School |
Wednesday 3 July |
Like Reading Articles Like This? Help Us Produce More This site remains committed to providing local community news and public interest journalism. Articles such as the one above are integral to what we do. We aim to feature as much as possible on local societies, charities based in the area, fundraising efforts by residents, community-based initiatives and even helping people find missing pets. We've always done that and won't be changing, in fact we'd like to do more. However, the readership that these stories generates is often below that needed to cover the cost of producing them. Our financial resources are limited and the local media environment is intensely competitive so there is a constraint on what we can do. We are therefore asking our readers to consider offering financial support to these efforts. Any money given will help support community and public interest news and the expansion of our coverage in this area. A suggested monthly payment is £8 but we would be grateful for any amount for instance if you think this site offers the equivalent value of a subscription to a daily printed newspaper you may wish to consider £20 per month. If neither of these amounts is suitable for you then contact info@neighbournet.com and we can set up an alternative. All payments are made through a secure web site. One-off donations are also appreciated. Choose The Amount You Wish To Contribute. If you do support us in this way we'd be interested to hear what kind of articles you would like to see more of on the site – send your suggestions to the editor. For businesses we offer the chance to be a corporate sponsor of community content on the site. For £30 plus VAT per month you will be the designated sponsor of at least one article a month with your logo appearing if supplied. If there is a specific community group or initiative you'd like to support we can make sure your sponsorship is featured on related content for a one off payment of £50 plus VAT. All payments are made through a secure web site. |