Iain Dale recalls an uncomfortable moment for Andy Burnham from a 2015 Labour leadership hustings he hosted, over NHS privatisation. This is an extract from Iain’s forthcoming autobiography HAVE I SAID TOO MUCH?.

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Over the years I have hosted numerous debates and husting, whether during election campaigns or party leadership contests. Each is memorable in its own way.

In July 2015 I hosted the four contenders for the Labour leadership, Jeremy Corbyn, Yvette Cooper, Liz Kendall and Andy Burnham.

I had seen several of the other hustings and found them rather uninspiring. A major reason for this was the format – opening statements, followed by questioning from an interviewer followed by closing statements. Boring, snoring. The format didn’t enable the candidates to really get stuck into any issue.

Partly due to time constraints too, there was little interaction between the candidates, and the opening/closing statements were a complete waste of time as the candidates just trotted out well worn cliches and phrases which they had used in previous hustings.

Somewhere in the deep mists of time I remember seeing a US Presidential Primary – a republican one, I think – where the candidates were allowed to quiz each other. We used that format in the Women Leaders Debate and Business debate during the 2015 general election, and it worked brilliantly.

The politicians liked it and so........

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