Delivering: Conservative candidate Steve O'Connell said he wasn't aware of any row over leafleting
The campaign team for Conservative London Assembly candidate Steve O'Connell has been accused of taking Liberal Democrat literature from a resident's postbox and replacing it with their own propaganda.
Craig Ling, campaign manager for Liberal Democrat candidate Councillor Abigail Lock, claimed yesterday two residents at the Bedzed development in Hackbridge challenged Mr O'Connell while he was leafleting in the area after they caught one of his campaigners taking a Liberal Democrat leaflet out of their letter box and replacing it with their own.
"They were quite outraged actually and, from our perspective, there could be a group of people who are denied our messages," said Mr Ling.
Coun Lock said it was important that voters read all literature so they could make an informed choice. She said: "Also, those leaflets were paid for by residents of Sutton who support us. And they were delivered by volunteers."
They both called for Mr O'Connell, the Greater London Assembly Conservative candidate for Croydon and Sutton, to guarantee his campaign would not do this.
"We want a commitment from Mr O'Connell that this isn't going to be done by him or his campaigners," Mr Ling said.
advertisement
“They were quite outraged actually and, from our perspective, there could be a group of people who are denied our messages.”
Craig Ling
Mr O'Connell, Croydon Council's cabinet member for public protection, denied he had ever taken Liberal Democrat literature out of a letter box.
"It is something I personally have never done. However, there are a lot of people doing stuff for me.
"This is very clearly not referring to me, although we have been up there delivering. I am not aware of any confrontation or any row."
He said, however, that he would expect his people to pick up other parties' literature for him to see.
"If there's a leaflet on the ground I expect my people to pick it up. If a bit of leaflet is hanging out then they pick it up. I'm sure it goes for Lib Dems, Labour and people generally. I don't think there's a big story," he said.
A spokeswoman for the Conservative Party said she could not comment on the allegations but that such behaviour would not be acceptable.
"We don't have any standard canvassing rules that we issue but we certainly wouldn't encourage anybody to do anything against the law."
I would like Councillor Abigail Lock to issue a statement to confirm that her campaign team have not done anything similar.
Perhaps she would also like to apologise for her party defacing Conservative Party posters during the last Mayoral elections by putting Lib Dem stickers all over them.
I would like Councillor Abigail Lock to issue a statement to confirm that her campaign team have not done anything similar.
Perhaps she would also like to apologise for her party defacing Conservative Party posters during the last Mayoral elections by putting Lib Dem stickers all over them.
Posted by: Hand of History, Sutton on 9:25am Fri 25 Apr 08
How dare the LibDems complain of any such thing! During the last general election all the Conservative garden signs in South Sutton were stolen during the night. They had to be replaced 5 times! I know there is a problem with crime, but I do not suspect the chavs of Sutton were interested in delivering a political message by vandalism. When I confronted Paul Burstow he was extremely sanctimonious but rather defensive. If we had wished to retaliate we could have had a long night taking down signs from Orange County up in N Cheam, but we would not stoop that low! Just consider the dirty tricks played by these desperate LibDems and get them out!
How dare the LibDems complain of any such thing! During the last general election all the Conservative garden signs in South Sutton were stolen during the night. They had to be replaced 5 times! I know there is a problem with crime, but I do not suspect the chavs of Sutton were interested in delivering a political message by vandalism. When I confronted Paul Burstow he was extremely sanctimonious but rather defensive. If we had wished to retaliate we could have had a long night taking down signs from Orange County up in N Cheam, but we would not stoop that low! Just consider the dirty tricks played by these desperate LibDems and get them out!
Posted by: suttonpeople.com, sutton on 10:47am Fri 25 Apr 08
[quote][bold]Col[/bold] wrote:
I don\'t see what the fuss is about.
These leaflets all say the same thing and they all end up in the same place - the bin.[/quote] Couldn't agree more. just a total waste of paper if you ask me.
Col wrote:
I don\'t see what the fuss is about.
These leaflets all say the same thing and they all end up in the same place - the bin.
Couldn't agree more. just a total waste of paper if you ask me.
Posted by: Adrian, Sutton on 11:23am Fri 25 Apr 08
[quote][bold]Mr J Jones[/bold] wrote:
Col, Sutton. I couldn't have put it much better myself. Other than mine go in the recycle bin, of course. Along with the pizza leaflets.[/quote] What? So these other leaflets aren't from pizza companies? No wonder I couldn't get "Conservative" to bring me a large American Hot with extra chillis. The haughty woman on their switchboard was most unhelpful!
Mr J Jones wrote:
Col, Sutton. I couldn't have put it much better myself. Other than mine go in the recycle bin, of course. Along with the pizza leaflets.
What? So these other leaflets aren't from pizza companies? No wonder I couldn't get "Conservative" to bring me a large American Hot with extra chillis. The haughty woman on their switchboard was most unhelpful!
[quote][bold]carly[/bold] wrote:
to be honest, I find the pizza leaflets more useful!
At least what it says is interesting!
ooooo could murder adeep pan pizza right now!!![/quote] Well, mysteriously I've just had a pizza leaflet shoved through my letterbox. It looks rather convincing, promising, satisfying and good value for money. None of which I know it will live up to?
Oh sorry, my mistake. It's actually a [italic](insert any political candidate here)[/italic] piece of literature. ;o)
carly wrote:
to be honest, I find the pizza leaflets more useful!
At least what it says is interesting!
ooooo could murder adeep pan pizza right now!!!
Well, mysteriously I've just had a pizza leaflet shoved through my letterbox. It looks rather convincing, promising, satisfying and good value for money. None of which I know it will live up to?
Oh sorry, my mistake. It's actually a (insert any political candidate here) piece of literature. ;o)
Posted by: Catherine, Croydon on 3:54pm Fri 25 Apr 08
Has anyone else seen those campaign-leaflets-di
sguised-as-a-local-p
aper things?
We've got one from the BNP and one from either Liberal Democrats or Labour (I didn't look that closely - I could tell from the first glance that it was a weak attempt to trick people into reading their propaganda).
I don't get many pizza leaflets, but there are loads offering me plastic windows.
Has anyone else seen those campaign-leaflets-di
sguised-as-a-local-p
aper things?
We've got one from the BNP and one from either Liberal Democrats or Labour (I didn't look that closely - I could tell from the first glance that it was a weak attempt to trick people into reading their propaganda).
I don't get many pizza leaflets, but there are loads offering me plastic windows.
Oh Dear Oh dear! I don't suppose the Lemons would do such a thing, now would they? If you want rid of Livingstone then it might be a favour. In other words- a vote for the Lib Dems is a wasted one.
Oh Dear Oh dear! I don't suppose the Lemons would do such a thing, now would they? If you want rid of Livingstone then it might be a favour. In other words- a vote for the Lib Dems is a wasted one.
I've met Steve O'C and I can say that hand-on-heart, I don't believe he is capable of doing something like this...
If the people of this 'conservation estate' (eyesore) are so green minded believing in only using what's needed when it comes to everyday life then i'd have thought they'd have been glad that someone took the junk away from them and only left them with something they actually needed!
The liberal literature needs only to say one line to it's supporters anyway...
"make sure your vote is wasted, make sure your vote doesn't count, vote nonsense, vote liberal..."
comeback?
I've met Steve O'C and I can say that hand-on-heart, I don't believe he is capable of doing something like this...
If the people of this 'conservation estate' (eyesore) are so green minded believing in only using what's needed when it comes to everyday life then i'd have thought they'd have been glad that someone took the junk away from them and only left them with something they actually needed!
The liberal literature needs only to say one line to it's supporters anyway...
"make sure your vote is wasted, make sure your vote doesn't count, vote nonsense, vote liberal..."
The quicker we can ditch the Lib Dems in Sutton the better, whiny little good for nothings who seem to think it's their god given right to squander taxpayers money on frivolous and pointless schemes.
The quicker we can ditch the Lib Dems in Sutton the better, whiny little good for nothings who seem to think it's their god given right to squander taxpayers money on frivolous and pointless schemes.
The quicker we can ditch the Lib Dems in Sutton the better, whiny little good for nothings who seem to think it's their god given right to squander taxpayers money on frivolous and pointless schemes.
The quicker we can ditch the Lib Dems in Sutton the better, whiny little good for nothings who seem to think it's their god given right to squander taxpayers money on frivolous and pointless schemes.
Posted by: Mike Hunt, Sutton on 3:02pm Tue 29 Apr 08
Were the Lib Dem leaflets in question the "sutton gazette" leaflets that I recieved yesterday? The ones specifically designed to look like official council documentation and confuse voters into believing the propaganda within? If so, good on them for taking this rubbish out of peoples doors.
Were the Lib Dem leaflets in question the "sutton gazette" leaflets that I recieved yesterday? The ones specifically designed to look like official council documentation and confuse voters into believing the propaganda within? If so, good on them for taking this rubbish out of peoples doors.
Posted by: Mike Hunt, Sutton on 3:02pm Tue 29 Apr 08
Were the Lib Dem leaflets in question the "sutton gazette" leaflets that I recieved yesterday? The ones specifically designed to look like official council documentation and confuse voters into believing the propaganda within? If so, good on them for taking this rubbish out of peoples doors.
Were the Lib Dem leaflets in question the "sutton gazette" leaflets that I recieved yesterday? The ones specifically designed to look like official council documentation and confuse voters into believing the propaganda within? If so, good on them for taking this rubbish out of peoples doors.
If you liked this article and would like to share it with others on the web who might be searching for good content we've made it easy for you to do it.
At the bottom of all articles, you'll see links to six sites. These sites - commonly called 'social bookmark' or 'social news' sites - have large communities of web users who share and rate interesting, useful and fun things on the web.
Clicking the links will automatically add the address of the story you are reading to one of these sites, letting you share it with others. Each site will ask you to register to share stories. Registration is free and once a member, you can store, recommend and search for stories that interest you.
Print
Email this
Comment
