A young Conservative supporter was refused entry to a public meeting with the newly-elected Labour MP for Canterbury, despite the event being advertised as “open to all”.
Following Rosie Duffield’s historic victory as Canterbury and Whitstable first Labour and female MP, the Canterbury Labour branch decided to open their weekly meeting to mere sympathisers as well as non-members. This event was to be marked by a speech from Mrs. Duffield, and was thus likely to draw a wide range of people eager to meet their new voice in Parliament.
On arrival, non-members found the event to be much more selective than as advertised on social media. Some non-members were asked several questions, such as whether they knew the Kent Labour Students, if they had attended some of their events previously and whether they were members of any other political party. Our reporter was only granted access to the venue after a notorious Kent Labour student vouched for her sympathy: ‘It’s OK I know Ms…., she’s a socialist’. It is to be noted that several Liberal Democrats were also allowed to attend the meeting. However, a member of the Kent Conservative students, who had come to the event with a more left-leaning friend of his, did not enjoy the same privilege, as he was immediately denied access to the venue when recognized by the Labour students, who he claimed to be personally acquainted with.
We spoke to the unfortunate young man: ‘At the end of day, she is my MP too now. I may be an active member of the Conservative party but I came here as a curious citizen with absolutely no malicious intentions.’ The young man went on to stress his commitment to the respect of the democratic process and expressed his hopes of the new MP continuing ‘the excellent work of Sir Julian Brazier in preserving the Kent and Canterbury Hospital’. He deplored that the way the event had been advertised was so misleading.
We have contacted the Canterbury Labour branch about the incident and hope that they can account for the discrepancy between the way the event was advertised and the actual ideological selection at the door. Time will therefore tell whether this unfortunate incident stemmed more from amateurish social media communication, excessive zeal or from profound distrust of the opposite side.