Labour Party Hustings

I attended te Labour Party Hustings in Bristol today. From past experience, I have come not to expect a diverse crowd at Labour gatherings, but every event falls short of my ever-falling expectations. I was expecting an overwhelmingly white and middle-class crowd, but what I was not expecting was so few youngsters.  I was among people who don't look or talk like me and neither were they the same age as me. Needless to say, they were applauding at all the wrong moments. I suppose today's gathering was not a representative sample of the Labour Party but that is part of the problem. The There should have been active efforts to make sure younger and more diverse members got spots to attend the debate, rather than just the "engaged membership". Today's conference could have been a Tory Party conference if there had been more men in suits. Neither did I see old working class union hands,  or any rabble-rousers or Momentum types. Of course, it is possible many youngsters gave this debate a miss because they don't care about debates, which would be an encouraging sign. That they see it as a pointless pantomime which should not only be avoided, but opposed because it emphasizes form over substance. The aim should be to change the political culture from debates that are little more than entertainment to more substantive discussion. But, public performances do give you an insight into a leader's personality and I came away from it more confident in my choice.