It was a lively debate at Beechen Grove Baptist Church in Watford last night.

The three candidates vying to be the next Mayor of Watford - Peter Taylor for the Lib Dems, Jagtar Singh Dhindsa for Labour and George Jabbour for the Conservatives - went head-to-head in a hustings.

Christians Across Watford joined forces with the Watford Observer to help you decide who to vote for.

Still undecided? We've summarised how it went below... 

Q. What is the single largest challenge for Watford over the next few years, and how would you address it?

Jagtar: Housing and homelessness are big issues. When we build more housing we need infrastructure. We are building multi storey flats and we need to introduce Jag's Bikes. Car parks in the town centre are empty and locked up overnight. The ones that are privately owned, I will open them up for people.

George: Healthcare is very important. I want to work Richard Harrington MP and government for the development of the hospital. Roads, trains, buses as well. We have increased investment from the county council to resurface the roads. I want to ensure I use my skills in engineering and business to develop infrastructure.​

Peter: The challenge is to do with development, people want to build houses in the town nand it needs to be sustainable. I want to build a garden village outside Watford. We need to create communities with infrastructure. One of my key pledges is better transport including having MLX delivered.

Q. As mayor, what will you do, how will it benefit the community and people's families, when will you do it, and how will you measure success?

Jagtar: I have my five pledges to introduce. Building a new hopsital will not cost the council- I will work with government and county council. I will build council houses and borrow money from the government, whatever money we save from landlords, that will be paid back. Revenue reserves of £12million. I will save money in the mayor's office as it is costing too much money.

Peter: To say we should run on reserves is not enough. Build more social housing, people need council houses. The gov have made it very difficult as the finances are not there anymore. Herts Homes will help build council houses. Move Watford families into homes that were previously flats.

George: He said he would measure success by increasing his share of the vote in his re-election campaign in four years.

Q. Does Watford need an elected mayor?

George: Yes. I have a very confident and ambitious plan. The beauty of a mayor is the key mandate of the local residents. We need to increase the communcation between mayor and local residents, I want to intorduce mayor's question time with meeting similar to this where people can make suggestions and highlight concerns so the residents are directly heard. I want to be mayor for everyone in Watford.

Jagtar: It's down to the people to decide. If you deceide we don't I will do everything I can to hold a referendum as soon as possible.

Peter: Having a mayor has been good for Watford because you're the people who decides who is the council leader. You get to hold that person to account and see if they have delivered what they said. Watford has been transformed under Dorothy's leadership and does need an elected mayor.

Q: What is your spiritual underpinning - and how does it affect what you actually do? 

George: My values and principles determine my actions...That has guided me through my upbringing and through my studies and also when I was working in investment banking. He also mentioned a financial scandal uncovered in Portugal. Whichever religion or faith you belong to, you should be good in that religion. I respect atheism also.

Peter: Lots of my councillors and colleagues as I'm not someone who talks about my faith very much but it does influence the fact I'm a councillor. Church leaders are very similar to councillors- they want to help other people.

Jagtar: I'm a Sikh and we believe in working hard and donating money to the needy - helping everyone. I'm proud to be contributing towards that as a Sikh.

Q. What will you do to improve the number of school places and qualified teachers. Should faith schools be capped at 50 per cent for a single faith?

Jagtar: An elected mayor does not have direct control over this but I will work with the county council. We need to provide more schools. I work in the prison service. There have been massive cuts. Now we are realising they have cut too far.

George: Since 2010 the number of schools and school places has increased. He also praises "brilliant" MP Richard Harrington, and repeats his pledge to work together.  I went to a Christian school in Syria and so don't see why faith school should have a cap. ​

Peter: I worked for the church education service so happy to talk at length about this. First of all we need more money in the system. Since 2015 we have seen real terms cuts. That has placed real pressure on the system. As mayor, we do have a role and that's fighting for more school place. 

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