Three Bishop Auckland general election candidates at Shildon hustings debate

Sitting Labour MP Helen Goodman, Conservative Christopher Adams and Liberal Democrat Ciaran Morrisey have confirmed they will be at the event at St John’s Church, Shildon, at 7pm on Friday, May 19.

Adam Walker is also standing for the British National Party.

Organised by the Anglican Diocese of Durham and chaired by Vicar David Tomlinson, the event follows a call from Archbishops Justin Welby and John Sentamu to parishes to engage.

Each candidate will get ten minutes to state why they deserve votes, face questions from the floor for about an hour then have the opportunity to have refreshments with the audience until 9pm.

Rev Tomlinson said: “This is one of the most deprived areas in the country and a lot of the issues arising from austerity and deprivation present themselves on our doorstep on a daily basis.

“As a church, we work to tackle some of these problems and it is right that election candidates are challenged to say what their government would do to help. It is also right that the church should be involved in this political debate.”

St John’s is a key driver in the Shildon Alive project based at St John’s Church, which runs community gardens and a food aid service among other projects.

Mr Tomlinson added: “Shildon Alive is about breathing life into a struggling community. We are making our contribution and election candidates should be challenged to say what they are doing.”

His comments echo the pastoral letter from the Bishops to the parishes of the Church of England, in which they wrote “Opportunities to renew and reimagine our shared values as a country and a United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland only come around every few generations.

"We are in such a time."

The letter defended the right of the Church to enter into the political arena, and added: “Our Christian heritage, our current choices and our obligations to future generations and to God's world will all play a shaping role."