Facing up to the grey vote

Prospective Parliamentary candidates for Stratford-on-Avon will be put under the spotlight by members of the Senior Citizens Action Networks (SCAN) from Stratford-on-Avon District.

The prospective candidates will each give a short presentation on how their policies will affect older people, which will then be followed by a question and answer session under the seasoned chairmanship of a SCAN member.

The event will take place on Thursday 22 April 2010 at 2pm in the Council Chamber of Stratford-on-Avon District Council's HQ in Church Street, Stratford-upon-Avon.

The panel list includes (in alphabetical order) Neil Basnett (Independent) Robert Johnston (Labour), Brett Parsons (UKIP), Martin Turner (Lib Dem), Karen Varga (Green) and Nadhim Zahawi (Conservative). 

• SCAN's are run in Alcester, Bidford, Henley, Shipston, Southam (not at this event) and Stratford-upon-Avon.  They are run in part to give its members "opportunities to 'have their say' on matters of concern".  They exercise a monitoring role on services that of particular importance to older people, such as: health care, housing, pensions, policing and transport.
• The 'Grey Vote' is said to have a turnout in elections of 75%. 
• The 2001 Census shows that there are approximately 27,000 voters in this age range.
• The District Council supported a similar event at Stratford College for first time voters.