KES sixth-form students are among those who shared view on Stratford candidates after Monday’s hustings

I was disappointed with the heckler [calling Reform a fascist party] interrupting things, but afterwards I did speak to him and I agreed with his views.

I don’t agree that 16-year-olds should have a vote – I think they are too easily influenced and lack perception. But if I were voting I’d go with Lib Dem. I thought she [Maneula] was brilliant in her responses to the questions.

Host Will grilled everyone perfectly equally, putting them all in the hot seat. Her arguments in response were best. And I feel she was the most concise on the issues, while some other candidates spoke longer but were more general.

The Labour candidate made a good point that we are not just voting for Stratford but nationally. And I think that should have been taken into account by other candidates more.

I would have liked to ask the Reform candidate about what he would do in power.

William Swan, 16, KES student

MY thoughts on the evening are a little bit despairing. We’ve all been raised with the ideals of democracy – that everyone’s vote is equal. But it became apparent tonight that the candidates that represent the major parties gave answers straight out of the party copybook. There was very little individuality. Even though some of them said they wouldn’t just go blindly with their party policies – let’s face it, they will.

While the smaller parties, independent and radical ones, may have got their points across well, realistically they have no chance of being voted in.

I’m too young to vote, and I’m not entirely sure who I would vote for. The independent representative [Kevin Taylor] definitely impressed me with his positive history with Stratford. And Manuela with the Lib Dems impressed me.

Both the Tory and Reform candidates as individuals came across quite well, but the ultimate thing is due to how the political system works – they are associated with parties that have such negative ideals and personas that there is no point in supporting them.

Aarav Desai, 17, KES student

I RUN the politics club at KES and I saw all the candidates to their seats and so I had a chance to chat with them. It’s obviously a two-horse race between Manuela and Chris Clarkson. Both of them seemed keen to engage, and talk to students – Chris offered to come and do a talk with KES. Labour needed to have stepped out a bit.

There are plenty of things you could be annoyed with the Conservatives about – like parachuting a candidate in – but I do think Chris dealt with that. He is doing a lot to engage and get to know the community. He’s doing his homework.

I did some work experience with Jeremy Wright’s Conservative team, and they are great at getting involved in the community. I think we could do with more of that in Stratford.

If I could vote I couldn’t decide between the Conservatives and Lib Dems, it would be a toss up. I don’t necessarily agree with lowering the vote to 16. I think, although we’re politically minded, because of social media I think you do get a herd mentality. But I think there should be more politics and government studied in school.

Emily Hunt, 17, KES student

I THINK it’s insulting that we don’t get to vote. I sat in that room and looked at the audience and thought these are the people who are voting to decide my future. And they’re people that are voting on policies that ultimately will affect my life more than their own.

I feel 16-year-olds have the ability to make an educated decision about how they vote. I do think the parties could reach out to younger people.

Even though I am just too young by two months to vote, my grandad saw that I was upset I couldn’t vote and so he said he would vote on my behalf – so he’s going to vote for who I want. He normally doesn’t bother.

The Lib Dem candidate impressed me tonight, she obviously knows the community very well and was a very good speaker and seemed like a genuinely nice person and down to earth. If I could vote it would be for her.

I was upset the Green Party candidate wasn’t there because my main interest is the environment. There wasn’t too much discussion on environmental policies. Reform did mention they are not even going to bother with net zero, which was disappointing.

Nicola Edwards, from Alcester

“I thought the Lib Dem candidate Manuela did well, she was clear and aware of her policies and truthful. Independent Kevin Taylor was also good – he was obviously aware of the area and what the problems are.

“I am a Labour voter but not here, I will vote tactically. And as far as this hustings was concerned, I didn’t rate the Labour candidate, I don’t think he spoke very well.

“Key issues for me are social justice and the environment. Net zero is important and I was shocked by the Reform candidate’s stance on that.

“Getting rid of corruption and bringing back trust in our politicians is also crucial.”

Dave Bush from Studley

“It was enjoyable and nice to see a big turnout of between 600 to 700 people who cared about local politics.

“I liked Chris Clarkson, the Conservative candidate, who came across as very honest and knew the area even though he’s only been here a month, so he must have taken time to investigate the town.

“He had a better understanding of Stratford than I do, and I live in Studley.

“He looks like someone who will put his town and constituency first.

“Many of the problems this country faces are long term, there are no quick fixes. I will vote Conservative as always.

“While the adjudicator of the panel was funny and engaging, I didn’t think it was fair to call Chris a tourist and I think he was given a rough time.”

Sherron Guise, above right, the Green Party member who stood down to avoid splitting the vote

I know Manuela, but she really impressed me. Kevin was also good. The Reform guy hasn’t got a clue and there’s no point talking about Neil O’Neil – Count Binface has got better policies than he does!

The Labour guy did OK until he had no idea who came second in the general election here, he lost it then.

I pulled up Chris Clarkson’s voting record, and the only thing he was good on was welfare and benefits, everything else he was against. I understand his last constituents were pleased to see him go. I think he’ll be like Nadhim Zahawi - absent.

I will be tactically voting for Lib Dems, we need to keep the Tories out. Then we can work on getting proportional representation, which all the parties except the Conservatives want. We want to change politics from being the two-party system. It needs to be democratic and fair.

Vikki Parker, above left, Stratford Compass, Stratford4Europe and Green Party member:

Nobody surprised me tonight, it was pretty much as I expected, and I thought Manuela was fantastic. As a Green Party member I will be voting for Manuela. She’s the best chance of getting us a progressive candidate.

Mike Waller, Preston-on-Sour:

“I want to see the Conservatives thrashed but I thought the chairman was very unfair. We know the guy [Chris Clarkson] is a newcomer so why did he have to keep making crowd-pleasing jokes about him not knowing much. I don’t think it was fair play.

“I was going to vote Liberal Democrat before tonight and I’m still going to vote that way.

“There was no one of the calibre of someone like Nick Clegg here tonight.

“I suppose I should welcome Reform in so far as it will weaken the Tory position.

“I’m amazed that supposedly intelligent people that have the vote support the beggars.

“At different times I’ve voted for different parties. I take a lot of interest and form a view of who will serve my country best.

“I voted for Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair… and certainly Nick Clegg. If they seem good, honest and confident politicians I will vote for them. I would never vote for a clown like Farage, who I detest.

“I thought the two guys at the end [Kevin Taylor and Neil O’Neil] were interesting, but they don’t stand a chance.”