Sound Division Amp Up Election Hustings!
Matthew Offord
Conservative
Andrew Dismore
Labour
Matthew Harris
Liberal Democrats
Election hustings for the three major party candidates, held in London constituency, Hendon North, were provided with an EV public address system by audio visual specialists, Sound Division, on Wednesday 21st April at Mill Hill Synagogue, London, NW7.
Public interest in the General Election had been raised by the recent TV Parliamentary debates and the Hendon North hustings capacity attendance of over 200, exceeded anticipated numbers.
Representing the three parties were Andrew Dismore (Labour), who has represented the Hendon North constituency for the last 13 years, and successfully led the Parliamentary campaign for Holocaust Memorial Day, Councillor, Matthew Offord (Conservative), former Deputy Leader of Barnet Council, with a principle interest in coordinating crime fighting issues between the Police, CST and the Council, and Matthew Harris (Lib Dem), fighting his campaign under a 'Fairness' theme in key areas of tax, economy and children's education. Chairing the proceedings was Henry Grunwald, QC, OBE.
Sound Division, now in their 20th anniversary year, were called to install a PA system shortly before the hustings were to take place. Sound Division MD, David Graham, was more than delighted to assist, “It was a pleasure to be able to actively contribute at local community level, especially as they were hosting a platform for all three party candidates who have been so active in highlighting key constituency issues”.
For the technical specification, Sound Division set up multiple EV sx80 compact monitor speakers along each of the side aisles, powered by Crown XLS amplifiers. An additional powered EV SX360 was set up as a monitor, on stage, in order that the candidates could hear the proceedings clearly.
Four AKG C747 table mounted pencil mics delivered the candidates speeches clearly to all areas of the room, whilst 2 Shure ULX Handheld radio mics were in roving use for an extensive audience Q & A session. An Allen & Heath 16 channel Wizard mixing desk with a simple DBX 30 band graphic controlled all sound levels, engineered by Sound Division's William Flowers on the night.
Mill Hill Synagogue Chairman, Jerome Reback, was extremely pleased with the “help and support” of Sound Division, “Assuming that attendance would be modest, it was at first thought that we might not need a public address system at all. When just 24 hours before the event, it became obvious that we were due for a large gathering indeed, I was relieved that David and his team were able to quickly come to our aid. Sound Division knew exactly the “right sound level we needed” for a full house. The whole evening went perfectly and we are very grateful for their obvious experience and professional approach”.
In a postscript to the event, it is interesting to note that, despite the understandable warmth shown by many of the attendees from the local area to the previous long serving Labour candidate, Andrew Dismore, Election night itself was to, ultimately, produce a disappointing result.
Conservative candidate Matthew Offord ousted Labour's Andrew Dismore to win the Hendon constituency in one of the country's closest election battles by just 106 votes following a recount. Representing a swing of 5.2 per cent to the Tories from Labour, the Conservatives took 42.3 per cent of the vote, with Labour on 42.1 per cent.
April 2010
Final result for all three candidates :
Matthew Offord (Con) : 19,635
Andrew Dismore (Lab) : 19,529
Matthew Harris (Lib Dem) : 5,734