North Tyneside Conservatives ‘Impersonate Labour’ in Alleged Bid to ‘Confuse the Electorate’ Over Suspended Candidate
The election race in North Tyneside Council has been turbulent, as local elections go. Last week, the Labour Party suspended its candidate in the Preston Grange ward over anti-Israel social media posts calling it a “terrorist nation” and comparing the country to Nazi Germany over the killings in Gaza.
Labour pulled support for Abdur Razaq on 25 April, but it was too late to change the name on the ballot paper.
In response to the suspension, the local Conservative Party has circulated red leaflets that at first look appear to come from Labour, urging people not to vote for the party, and implying that it has disavowed candidates in a ward unrelated to Preston Grange.
Byline Times was made aware of a leaflet circulated in the Tynemouth ward following Razaq’s suspension, which was branded in the same shade of red as Labour leaflets and carried the headline “Important: Local Labour Candidate Suspended”.
The 'misleading' leaflet from local Conservatives. Photo: John Giddens/Byline Times
The leaflet informs the reader that Razaq, who is not named and referred to only as “a local Labour Party candidate”, has been suspended, but because it is a recent decision, he will still be on the ballot as a Labour candidate.
The leaflet does not mention that it is from the Conservative Party, but the fine print does state that it has been promoted by Liam Bones, the council’s Conservative Group Leader on behalf of three councillors in the Tynemouth ward.
Tom Bailey, a Labour candidate for Tynemouth, told Byline Times: “The Tories have been putting these leaflets through doors in a deliberate attempt to confuse the electorate, to suggest that one of us might not be an officially endorsed candidate”.
He added: “This is part of a long pattern of behaviour by this local party. In the past they might have used a slightly darker shade of red. This is the furthest they’ve gone in outright copying Labour branding.”
John Giddons, the Tynemouth resident who brought the leaflet to the attention of Byline Times, said: “They've done this before actually over the last few years... I think this is dirty campaigning and typical of the Tories around here."
Accusing the party of being “desperate”, he added: “My local WhatsApp community group, which tends to avoid politics, has been busy with all posts about the leaflet condemning it as dirty work by the Conservative candidates.”
The leaflet circulated in Tynemouth implored voters not to vote for Labour, telling them that the unnamed councillor would sit as an independent if they won the ward, giving it the appearance of a disavowal from the Labour Party.
The leaflet also claimed “there are several other local candidates on the ballot paper. Please do not support Labour in this election”.
The tactic of a leaflet that is not obviously from the Conservatives, telling voters to vote for any candidate apart from Labour in an attempt to split votes, has also been used by Susan Hall in the London Mayoral Election campaign.
In another 'dirty campaigning’ row, local Conservative councillor Liam Bones – who appears to be named on the latest leaflet as ‘L Bones’ – was formally censured by North Tyneside Council last year after claiming on his website that former Deputy Mayor, Jim Allan, was the “laziest Labour councillor” and that he had “received over £150,000 in allowances – but didn’t think it was necessary to attend the meetings he was being paid to go to”. The reality was that Mr Allan had stepped back from duties due to severe illness.
North Tyneside Conservative Party was approached for comment.
This is part of our VoteWatch election investigation series. Got a story tip? Contact votewatch24@bylinetimes.com