Cliffe Independence Hustings

The Cliffe area of Lewes used to be a separate borough and has always maintained an independent spirit from the rest of town. Next week, the Cliffe is not only declaring its independence from the rest of the town, but from the rest of the country as well. Three different organisations in the district - the Bonfire Society, the Residents’ Association and the independent traders - have organised the event, which will kick off with a hustings in which four candidates to be Cliffe’s first President will be laying out their manifestos in the area’s four pubs, the Snowdrop, the Dorset, the Gardeners and the John Harvey Tavern.

“Draws will be made to see which candidate speaks in which pub”, says spokesman Phil Lucas. “We will spend approximately 45 minutes in each establishment”. Three candidates have so far announced themselves, soon-to-be-former Mayor Merlin Milner, panto’ and operatic guru Andy Freeman and CBS stalwart Molly Motford. A fourth candidate is ‘soon to be announced’. “We will provide a soap box for candidates to stand on”, says Phil, “and lots will be drawn to see which pub each person will deliver their speech in”. He reckons the best draw will be one of the middle two pubs, “because in the Snowdrop nobody will have drunk much beer yet, and by the John Harvey Tavern everybody will be well oiled”. He won’t be drawn on predicting a winner, though he does reveal that Andy Freeman has an ‘entourage’ including a ‘heckler’, instructed to give the other candidates a hard time. AL