Paul Maynard was forced to defend his own record during a hustings event in Cleveleys that often risked becoming fiery.
Maynard, MP for Blackpool North and Cleveleys since 2010 and now standing as the Conservative candidate for new constituency Blackpool North and Fleetwood, was forced to repay £1,367 for using a state-of-the-art printer, having used public resources for ‘overtly political’ material.
Dan Barker, the Reform candidate for area, called attention to the Conservatives record on the Fylde Coast comparing Maynard to former colleagues Scott Benton - who told a Times reporter he would break lobbying rules for money in Blackpool South - and Mark Menzies - who was forced to quit after an internal inquiry found a “pattern of behaviour” that had fallen below the standard expected of MPs.
Maynard told the hustings: “At the start of the year, a member of my local association made a complaint about me because there was a falling out. Mud was thrown my way, including across the front page of The Sunday Times.
“An investigation took place in parliament by the complaints officer, they went through everything they could possibly go through, and they determined we should be paying £4.50 per month more for one particular item of equipment.
“I was perfectly happy to pay. There was no criticism of me in that report.”
During this section, Barker was told to return to his seat or face being ejected by the hustings team.
It was a rare moment during the debate when Barker did not bring the debate back to the topic of immigration.
The hustings was organised by The Blackpool Lead in partnership with the Blackpool Gazette and Shelter Lancashire. It was held at The Venue in Cleveleys.
That the topic of discussion was brought back to immigration so regularly by Dan Barker and unlikely ally James Antony Lionel Michael Rust of the Monster Raving Loony Party caused some upset within the audience.
One audience member said: “I pay my taxes, to enter this country I need to do that. Some of the comments [on immigration] have been shocking. So I want to ask the candidates what policies they have to ensure that people are treated fairly?”
Tina Rothery, the Green Party candidate, said: “We should stop the boats - but we should stop them by providing safe routes to our country.”
One audience member then offered to apologise, to applause, for the ‘lack of humanity’ in some of the discussion around immigration - which was prompted by comments from Rust.
Clive Grunshaw, Labour’s police and crime commissioner for Lancahsire, was standing in for Lorraine Beavers, who could not attend due to family commitments.
He said: “Lorraine has got a manifesto for change. It’s about change from the government we’ve had, which is without doubt the worst we have had in history.
“They have given us the cost-of-living crisis, the crisis in the housing sector, sewage in the seas. The party that have given us Boris ‘the truth dodger’ Johnson.
“If Lorraine is elected, we will see a Labour government committed to stabilising the economy.
“To get the investment in this local area that is so deprived, we need people who will fight for this community.”
The final question fell to Hope Barnes from Shelter Lancashire. She drew attention to the issues with damp and mould in housing in Blackpool, particularly one woman, a mother-of-three, she had been working with who is facing eviction for speaking to the council and her landlord about the issue.
Maynard said: “Housing is one of the biggest categories of case work that I deal with. Our biggest challenge is to get rental reform right.”
Grunshaw said: “Housing defines the poverty, the deprivation and the ills of society that we have on the Fylde Coast. There’s a correlation between that deprivation and crime and anti-social behaviour.
“We need to resolve that by intervention to make sure the landlords make the standards of property far better than what they are. It’s a huge issue that needs an MP who understands and cares.”
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