Election webchats: Your chance to quiz rivals for crucial seat
It's expected to be the most closely-contested seat in Shropshire – and this week you will have the chance to directly quiz its candidates.
We will be holding a series of webchats with candidates for the Telford seat at this year's election. And we are inviting readers to submit the questions they want to hear answered by candidates.
Ukip's Denis Allen will be the first to face questions from 1pm tomorrow. The party is hoping to make giant strides and mirror its rise in fortunes in the European and local elections nationally.
Green candidate Peter Hawkins will be joining us from 11am on Wednesday. The Greens have seen a boost in profile since being included in the televised leaders' debate and Mr Hawkins hopes to pick up the votes of those disillusioned with the mainstream parties.
Submit your question. E-mail thom.kennedy@shropshirestar.co.uk, leave an online comment below this story online, or submit it via Twitter to @tkennedy_star. Follow the debate live at here at shropshirestar.com
Conservative candidate Lucy Allan will be present to face questions from 1pm on Thursday. Telford is sixth on the Conservatives' list of target seats and Ms Allan hopes to overhaul a majority of less than 1,000 that saw Labour's David Wright voted into the seat last time.
Mr Wright, the Labour candidate, will be finishing the week on Friday from 1pm. He hopes to increase his majority to show that Labour has what it takes to take power with an overall majority in the Commons.
Business editor Thom Kennedy will be chairing the online debates, which will you will be able to follow at shropshirestar.com. He said: "We are delighted that these candidates have agreed to join us for these webchats. In a seat which will be the focus of a fierce contest, it's essential that people get a true impression of what their candidates stand for.
"We want to drill down into the core issues facing people in Telford at this election."
Telford has always been a Labour seat since being spun off from The Wrekin in 1997. It promises to provide the closest result across Shropshire and Mid Wales.
The webchats will remain visible online once the webchat has finished, and each will last for an hour.
