Digital hustings for candidates
Hopefuls quizzed live on Facebook
Candidates for this week’s General Election were put through their paces in the first ever Ayrshire Post digital hustings.
We grilled the SNP’s Corri Wilson, Labour candidate Carol Mochan and Tory hopeful Bill Grant in a live Facebook debate on Thursday afternoon.
The event, which reached more than 100,000 people, was the only chance people in the Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock constituency got to hear from all three candidates ahead of the vote.
We asked the candidates about the future of Ayr, what they will do for people in rural areas and how they hope to address the balance between the rich and poor in Ayrshire.
On the town centre, SNP candidate Ms Wilson said: “Retail has changed dramatically. We can no longer look at Ayr as a retail town, we need to look at what it can offer.
“You just need to look outside and you can see this town has died over the last 10 years and we need to do more to improve that.
“What I’m fighting for is a commitment to the Ayrshire Growth Deal, which would bring £ 680million into the area, and it would be a mixture of infrastructure and investment that would have a huge impact here.”
Labour’s Ms Mochan, in response to our question about what candidates would do for people in Carrick, Cumnock, and the Doon Valley, promised to make sure their voices were heard.
She said: “People need to see their representatives. There’s no point in having an office for people to come to, you have to go out and speak to people.
“I’ve made every effort to raise issues from Cumnock right down to Girvan, like open casts and transport – not just statements but actions.
“People need an MP who wants things to change and are willing to shout out at Westminster and actually make things happen.”
Finally, Conservative candidate Mr Grant spoke on what he would do to address the balance between some of the most deprived areas and some of the most affluent areas in the constituency.
He said: ““How do you take yourself from poverty? Two things – work and education.
“Work is a great thing. The majority of people in these difficult circumstances actually work, but overarching that is educating people on how to manage a limited budget and use that wisely.
“There’s a whole range of money they squander needlessly on the wrong things – easy food, carry out meals, even alcohol – we need to get that reduce and resource that.”
The Liberal Democrat candidate for Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock, Callum Leslie, declined our invitation to attend the digital hustings.
Polls open at 7am on Thursday, with results expected to come at around 3am the following day – we’ll be live on AyrshirePost. co. uk through the night with the latest from the count.