How to handle a hustings: What voters expect

In the last few days a number of new candidates have described to me their trepidation in facing the public in an open debate with their rivals. Yes, it's the traditional hustings and the first one is being held tonight in the West. Personally I find the hustings are when it really starts to feel like an election period. A bit like how mulled wine makes it feel like Christmas. A bit. You see, this time around, with the air of political discontent there is in the island, I think these hustings could be more fiery than the rather friendly affair we're used to in Guernsey.

Of course, if you're standing for election for the very first time or you're coming off the back of a challenging term in office, it can be a nerve-wracking time. What will people ask? Do I have the answers? Will I get heckled? It's a very intense and very strange kind of job interview.

But no matter how politically inexperienced a candidate is, or how much baggage they have, there are some broad expectations voters have from any would-be politician.

How those candidates perform on stage in the heat of debate, with all eyes on them, tells us a lot about how strong they'll be in the assembly when our interests need defending, how much conviction they'll have when faced with pressure groups and protesters, and how quickly they can get their head around new and complicated arguments.

Clearly the hustings aren't the be all and end all. Manifestos, door-to-door campaigning and increasingly, an online presence play a big part. And let's not forget most voters won't even attend the hustings. So why do they matter? Well, for those that are in the room, it is the only chance to see a candidate in real action. And once a few of your voters have seen that and made a judgement on it, well, people talk.

There are a few tricks I've noticed some of our more experienced politicians use. One that always stands out it how they'll write down the name of the person asking the questions so when it's their turn to answer, they can address the person by name. First name. Like they're your mate. There's nothing wrong with that, but I don't think it's what voters really want.

What they want is someone who recognises the problems in government and has solutions, solutions they can articulate clearly. That means candidates who have researched and prepared for the big political issues of the moment (our ferry service, the future of education, long-term tax options like GST, to name but a few). If a candidate draws a blank on one of those, they'll very quickly be crossed off most voters' list of potentials. Candidates who are standing largely because of a personal gripe they want to tackle also won't get very far. We want deputies to represent us, not just themselves.

But we're also won over by more than that. Rightly or wrongly, we're won over by strength of personality, by getting an impression of how much integrity, honesty and intelligence a candidate has. A hustings that's two or even three hours long will still only cover a handful of issues, if up to a dozen candidates are giving their take on each one. So we need to glean from the few topics directly addressed, what kind of person a candidate is. Because the bottom line is we don't have party politics, our vote won't guarantee that any particular policy is pushed through, it will only guarantee that certain kinds of people are making the decisions. It's the best we can hope for in a party-free system (and I'm not advocating party politics!) so that's where we voters have to make our call.

The other thing I personally hate to see from wannabe deputies is 'sitting on the fence'. It may seem prudent to play it safe on certain issues, but to me that just comes across as either uninformed or worse, cowardly. I don't want a flip-flopper, because flip-flopping is probably the single biggest problem the last States had. I want candidates who will take a stand and defend it. That's not to say there's no value in being willing to change one's mind if the evidence changes, or if they're met with a compelling argument. But at this stage, with the campaign underway, I don't want candidates too scared to have an opinion. That does not bode well.

So candidates may want to think about that as the hustings get underway: the kind of person we think you are is as important as what your policies would be. We want candidates who tick both boxes.