The economy, housing and the NHS proved contentious issues last night as the Epping Forest parliamentary candidates came face-to-face in a election debate.

All six of the constituency’s candidates were present at the public hustings event in St Mary’s Church, Loughton High Road, last night.

Each of the candidates faced the same questions from members of the public, with only a minute to tackle issues as diverse as gay rights, potholes and climate change.

Epping Forest Guardian:

Anna Widdup, Gareth Barrett, Andrew Smith, chair Ian King, Jon Whitehouse, Mark Wadsworth and Eleanor Laing on stage

A prominent topic of the evening was housing and the green belt in Epping Forest, with most of the candidates claiming it is the most important local issue.

“We will protect the green belt – the green belt is not for sale, and not for destruction”, said Conservative candidate Eleanor Laing, who claimed new council homes being built will help ease housing pressures.

Others, including Green candidate Anna Widdup and Labour candidate Gareth Barrett, called for more radical reform of housing and land use.

Epping Forest Guardian:

Anna Widdup of the Green Party

Mr Barrett advocated a “use it or lose it” system for developers sitting on land, and Mrs Widdup claimed “a lot more” social housing is needed.

She said: “There are people who can afford huge houses and there are people who cannot get on the housing market at all.

“We need to balance things and make things fairer and make sure society is more equal.”

Andrew Smith of UKIP said more houses were needed, but he added the system was under pressure because of immigration.

He said: “Demand has been affected by immigration.

“If the population continues to grow, it makes it very difficult for people to plan.”

The NHS and crisis-hit Whipps Cross hospital were also discussed by candidates, with nearly all of them claiming more investment is needed.

Epping Forest Guardian:

Andrew Smith of UKIP

Liberal Democrat candidate Jon Whitehouse claimed further integration of health and social care was needed, and Mark Wadsworth of the Young People’s Party questioned spending more money on the system.

He said: “What on Earth does the NHS spend all the money on, there is half of the budget unaccounted for.

“Where does it all go?”

The economy was a prominent issue for all the candidates, and led to the biggest clashes of the evening.

Mrs Laing drew loud heckles from the audience and disagreement from other candidates when she claimed: “You do not get a better future by saying you want one.

“Labour wrecked the economy of this country.”

Epping Forest Guardian:

Eleanor Laing of the Conservatives

She added: “We are getting there, you know that unemployment is down, we have a long way to go but we must not throw it away.”

With strict time limits many issues were only briefly discussed and a number of people from the packed audience were disappointed to not ask their own questions.

A second hustings is being held this Thursday (April 23) at St John’s Church in Epping.