Voters had their first opportunity to quiz prospective MPs at the inaugural Sutton Debates meeting on Thursday November 13.

The close-to-hundred strong audience filled the Sutton Tennis Academy to quiz Liberal Democrat MP Paul Burstow as well as those hoping to take his place in the Houses of Parliament.

The full line-up, including the Sutton and Cheam MP, was Paul Scully (Con) Emily Brothers (Lab) Angus Dalgleish (UKIP) Maeve Tomlinson (Green) and David Ash (NHA).

The topic for the debate was 'health' and given the sensitivity of the subject following the closure threats at St Helier Hospital and the privatisation of services, tempers in the crowd ran high requiring chairman Nick Hitchens, assistant editor of the Sutton Guardian, to frequently step in and calm the heated audience.

Speaking after the debate Mr Hitchens said: "The event was set up to give people the chance to speak directly to those hoping to represent them at Westminster. I am grateful to the candidates for giving their time, and to the members of the public who turned out to make a lively debate.

"It is a shame that some members of the audience seemed determined on disrupting proceedings rather than engaging with the evening in a meaningful manner, but hopefully most of those involved found the evening informative and enjoyable."

Each member of the six-strong panel was given three minutes to introduce themselves, their general views on the subject and what they would do as MP, before questions were put to them.

The main parties held up well in the face of strong criticism from the gallery who were on the whole displeased with the actions of the coalition government, and MP Burstow's role as a health minister, in privatising services and the continued use of PFI deals.

Emily Brothers got the biggest laugh of the evening during her introduction when she asked anybody who needed to use the loo during the debates not to mention it on social media, in reference to MP Tom Brake's accidental tweet earlier in the week of a small brown poo lodged in the bottom of a toilet bowl.

Angus Dalgleish who had the task of answering each question first was strongest when discussing the role Europe played in the NHS and how money not spent as a member of the EU could be put towards the NHS.

Green candidate Maeve Tomlinson overcame early nerves to level a series of attacks against the "200 or so parliamentarians" with an interest in private health companies and whose applauds from the crowd were only topped by National Health Action party candidate David Ash, in what was always likely to be his strongest subject.

He told the audience the "NHS was the finest achievement of any country in the world" to a huge round of applause.

The passion of the crowd was perhaps best summed up as the near two-hour debate came to a conclusion when one member said that St Helier hospital had been painted green to protect it from bombers and that "if we didn't let Hitler destroy it we can't let Oliver Letwin".

The final two Sutton Debates will be held in February and March at the Christ Church and St Philips community hall, Worchester Park and Nonsuch School for Girls in Cheam respectively. The topics for the debates will be economy followed by education.

You can continue the debate on Twitter using the hashtag #SuttonDebates.