MORE than 300 people packed into Thornbury Baptist Church last night as politicians debated the big issues that face the nation and the constituency.

While the nation’s political party leaders, and Conservative Amber Rudd, who stood in for Theresa May, battled on television, hopefuls to the Thornbury and Yate seat did the same at a hustings event, with education, the environment and healthcare the hot topics.

Candidates standing in the Thornbury and Yate constituency were invited to take part in the debate organised by Thornbury Churches Together (TCT), with questions being put directly to the speakers by members of the public.

A last minute change to the line-up saw the replacement of Labour's Brian Mead, who was unable to attend due to work commitments, with former South Gloucestershire councillor John Turner stepping in to talk about the party’s policies.

Mr Turner joined the Green Party’s Iain Turner, Lib Dem Claire Young and Conservative Luke Hall, with proceedings being managed by Baptist Church pastor Paul Ferguson, who served as compere.

The audience got immersed in the debate with plenty of applause, cheers and the occasional person calling out, as political passion was evident behind every question.

After the hustings concluded, Ms Young told the Gazette she thoroughly enjoyed the lively nature of the debate and that the she found the range of questions very interesting.

She added: “I thought the way the audience got involved and interacted with us was very interesting. It is great to see so many people engaged in politics.”

Mr Hamilton said he enjoyed the evening, and felt his contribution to the debate “started off slowly” and was pleased that it ended on a high.

However, he said: “I am surprised pensions weren’t mentioned in the questions. When I am out on the doorsteps it is a high priority for a lot of people, and with the elderly population in the area it is going to be a concern for a lot of people.”

Conservative candidate Mr Hall said: “It was an absolute pleasure to attend the hustings in Thornbury.

“I enjoyed all the questions that were put forward and hope I answered them well enough for the people here.”

Mr Turner, a former teacher and local government education cabinet member, joked that he had been mowing the lawn when he found out he would be taking part, only four hours before it started, but said that he held his own and coped well even though he didn’t know the format of the event until he arrived.

He said: “The crowd were good, there were some topical questions and I am most fortunate that education came up first as it is what my personal and professional life has been about.”

Having compered a number of similar events for past election hustings, Mr Ferguson said he was very pleased by the turnout and the quality of the questions.

“Everyone was pretty friendly,” he said. “I hope that people found it was a way they could engage with this whole process we as a nation are in at the moment, and it’s good for us as a church community to show we are not remote from everything, we are involved.”