East Devon District Council elections: Meet the candidates: Hustings in Sidmouth >>> 7.30pm Wednesday 15th April >>> and further reports

Tomorrow, Wednesday 15th April, will offer candidates and electorate the opportunity to meet and debate the issues at stake at District Council level:
Futures Forum: Hustings in Sidmouth: District Council Election ........ Wednesday 15th April

If you have a question to ask a candidate, please submit any to the Vision Group beforehand:
Vision Group for Sidmouth - Contact

The event takes place at St Francis Hall in Woolbrook and starts at 7.30 with refreshments. Then at 7.45 the debate will kick off - with each of the three wards taking the stage in turn:
Vision Group for Sidmouth - District Council Hustings

It promises to be quite a debate:
Futures Forum: East Devon District Council elections: latest reports

This was today's front page of the View from Sidmouth:

This is the piece on-line:

SIDMOUTH: Independent alliance target Sidmouth

14th April 2015 by Jack Dixon jack@pemedia.co.uk

A NEW political party seeking to flood East Devon District Council with independents at next month’s election has made Sidmouth one of its key battlegrounds in the run-up to polling day.

The East Devon Alliance is targeting a strong return of district councillors in the town, when voters head to the polls on May 7th.

Three weeks of fierce campaigning are still to come, but the party believes it can take a number of important seats away from the Conservatives in two Sidmouth wards.

Three candidates in the Sidford ward – Dawn Manley, Marianne Rixson and Debbie Tallis - were confirmed as ‘Independent East Devon Alliance’ candidates last week. They will fight to unseat serving Conservative councillors Stuart Hughes and Graham Troman, with Ian McKenzie-Edwards (Con), Lewis Ragbourn (Lib Dem) and Jack Brokenshire (Ind) also in the running.

The battle for seats will also be keenly contested in the Sidmouth Town ward, where the EDA’s Matt Booth and Cathy Gardner will take on Conservatives Sheila Kerridge, Frances Newth and Peter Sullivan, with John Dyson also standing.

The EDA is bidding to swamp the Conservative-controlled district authority with councillors after May 7th, and a total of 22 ‘Independent EDA’ representatives are standing across East Devon.

EDA chairman Paul Arnott, who is standing in the Coly Valley, said the party’s challenge represented a “genuinely historic” achievement. He said: “Taken together with the unstoppable rise of independent parliamentary candidate for East Devon, Claire Wright, this phenomenal offer by 37 independents [22 as ‘Independent EDA’] to the people of the district proves that East Devon better represents the desire for change in democracy than anywhere else in the United Kingdom.”

The campaign starting gun was fired last week as the names of those candidates standing for a seat were finally revealed, following months of speculation. A further 26 days on the campaign trail are to follow for Sidmouth’s prospective councillors, as election fever grips East Devon.

FULL LIST OF SIDMOUTH ELECTION CANDIDATES

East Devon District Council

Sidmouth Rural ward: Christine Drew (Con), David Barratt (Ind).

Sidmouth Sidford ward: Jack Brokenshire (Ind), Stuart Hughes (Con), Dawn Manley (Ind EDA), Ian McKenzie-Edwards (Con), Lewis Ragbourn (Lib Dem), Marianne Rixson (Ind EDA), Debbie Tallis (Ind EDA), Graham Troman (Con).

Sidmouth Town ward: Matt Booth (Ind EDA), John Dyson (Ind), Cathy Gardner (Ind EDA), Sheila Kerridge (Con), Frances Newth (Con), Peter Sullivan (Con).

Independent alliance target Sidmouth - View from Sidmouth.
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