Elections: Sheffield Conservatives and Liberal Democrats slammed for skipping climate hustings

Voters tuned in to watch the virtual event earlier this week but there were no Tory or Lib Dem election candidates to answer their questions on the key issue.

Sheffield Council declared climate and nature emergencies in recent years and committed to aiming for net zero by 2030.

Ian Cracknell, of Sheffield and Rotherham Wildlife Trust, which ran the event with South Yorkshire Climate Alliance, said they invited the leaders of all four parties currently represented on the council to provide a speaker in advance but both the Lib Dems and Tories declined.

At the debate, Labour candidate Craig Gamble Pugh said: “It is astonishing to me that there is only myself and Alexi [Dimond, Green Party candidate] on the panel this evening.

“We are no longer debating if or what the crisis is… the debate now is about how we achieve that… there is also a debate as we head into the elections about who is best placed to tackle the climate emergency… it is certainly not going to be the parties that didn’t show up because those parties haven’t just not shown up they haven’t shown up to addressing the issue.”

The Festival of Debate said the no-shows were “unfortunate” and Nicky Rivers, of Wild Sheffield, said it was “disappointing”.

Responding to the criticism, Councillor Shaffaq Mohammed, leader of Sheffield Liberal Democrats, said he had commitments supporting young people in Page Hall on the date of the event and the party’s spokespeople, councillors Andrew Sangar and Joe Otten, also had prior arrangements.

He added: “It’s disappointing that Craig Gamble Pugh is making these cheap shots. Our record on the climate is clean.

“Voters curious about our record on climate can look at our achievements – we pushed through the food waste trial after years of Labour dragging their heels, we pressed for the new local plan to protect as much Green Belt as possible, and we pioneered a scheme to improve the biodiversity of our highway verges.

“Our manifesto includes pledges to increase funding for businesses to reduce their carbon emissions, introduce a bike hire scheme, provide businesses with e-cargo bikes, and push for bus franchising.”

A spokesperson for Sheffield Conservatives said they could not attend because they were busy with other campaigning activities.

They added: “We recognise the importance of working towards our climate ambitions as a city.

“The UK Government has shown global leadership on the environment – both in terms of its legal commitments and its record on cutting carbon emissions – whilst ensuring value for the taxpayer.

“Sheffield Council must meet its own obligations in a way that does not negatively impact and place additional financial pressures on local businesses and residents.”

The local elections will take place on Thursday, May 4.

Voters are reminded to bring photographic identification to vote in person. Read more about this here.

Who Is My Councillor, a website run by non-party political volunteers, helps voters compare candidates’ policies, priorities, parties and ideas. Find out more about that here.