Election hustings cancelled after two major parties fail to commit

A Norfolk hustings event has been cancelled after the candidates for two major parties declined to confirm their attendance.

The Norwich South hustings at St Peter Mancroft Church has been scrapped after Labour's Clive Lewis and Conservative David Thomas were unable to commit.

The event was scheduled for next Tuesday and was set to allow constituents to pose questions to representatives from each party.

Mr Thomas said he was unable to commit to the hustings due to "other commitments and childcare", while Mr Lewis - who has held the seat since 2015 - cited "personal reasons".

The other candidates are Sean Bennett for the Lib Dems, Graham Burton for Reform UK, Party of Women candidate Linda Law, the Green's Jamie Osborn and independent candidate Elizabeth Davey.

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A spokesman for St Peter Mancroft Church said: "Having been unable to secure a commitment to participate from the Conservative Party, and from the Labour Party, the former the governing party, and the latter widely expected to form the next government, we felt that questions of accountability could not be adequately addressed.

"We are extremely grateful to the candidates from the Green Party, the Liberal Democrats, and the Party of Women, for their willingness to attend and take part in the democratic process.  We are very disappointed, and apologise to all who were planning to attend."