PARLIAMENTARY candidates debated a range of rural issues at a special hustings organised by the Country Land and Business Association (CLA), which represents landowners, farmers and rural businesses.

The rural hustings, hosted by the Brooks family at Peover Hall yesterday, gave CLA members the chance to quiz candidates on the issues that mattered to them locally, including localism, HS2, bovine TB and badgers, milk quotas, EU subsidies and rural broadband.

CLA Midlands director Caroline Bedell, who chaired the event, said: “It was pleasing to see that five major parties found the time and effort to face questions from our members, and I think they went away with a new perspective on the rural vote.

“Rural issues are often sidelined by more media-friendly topics, and this proved the ideal opportunity to redress the balance.”

On the panel for the CLA rural hustings were Tim Roca, Labour candidate for Macclesfield; Tina Rothery, Green Party candidate for Tatton; David Rutley, Conservative candidate for Macclesfield; Cheshire West UKIP chairman Chris Watkin; and Gareth Wilson, Liberal Democrat candidate for Tatton.

The CLA has published its own election manifesto, Unlock the Countryside’s Potential, which can be downloaded from www.cla.org.uk/election.