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4 months ago
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So many local Labour voters have told me they’re going to vote for me, because they want to keep me as their local MP.
There have been so many that I’m launching a new Labour for Largan club. You can join other traditional Labour voters backing me at: https://t.co/7zZ7RO53b7 pic.twitter.com/duoiq0QKr9
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As the general election campaign goes on and the Tory Party sinks under the weight of yet another scandal, some Conservative candidates have sought to distance themselves from the party to cling on to their seat.
From Tory campaign leaflets that barely feature the party name, or Rishi Sunak’s, to candidates outwardly criticising the party, there have been numerous reports of Tories actively seeking to move away from the party during the campaign period to rally individual public support.
Here are five cases of Tory candidates distancing themselves from the Conservative brand, and Rishi Sunak, during the election campaign.
‘Labour for Largan’
Election adverts from Conservative Robert Largan have been reviewed by Derbyshire police after allegations of election fraud, after the High Peak candidate published a number of campaign material in the colours of Labour and Reform.
Attempting to cling on to his slim majority, Largan’s tactics involved using the phrases ‘Labour for Largan’ and ‘Reform for Robert’. Carol Vorderman accused him of being a “desperate Tory” by trying “pathetically” to distance himself from the party.
Red for… Conservative?
But the investigation into Largan’s tactics didn’t prevent others going in a similar direction, as the Conservative candidate for Keighley and Ikley Robbie Moore was also shamed online for using red campaign posters, with no mention of his party.
Moore was accused of misleading voters with red campaign signs symbolic of the Labour Party in another questionable campaign move.
Nigel Farage leaflets
Andrea Jenkyns may just take the medal for quite frankly the most bizarre piece of Conservative campaign material of this election campaign, when she put Nigel Farage on her leaflets.
The leaflets were described by the fact-checking organisation Full Fact as “misleading” which warned that this kind of tactic “causes long-term damage to trust in politics” as she gave the impression of being endorsed by the Reform Party.
Rishi Sunak was accused of having no leadership for failing to sack her over the endorsement of the Reform party leader on her campaign material, which also caused a backlash from fellow Conservative candidates.
Tory Party ‘has disappointed’
Tunbridge Wells candidate Neil Mahapatry declared on his campaign leaflet that the Conservative party he represents “has disappointed” with “some poor policies, worse implementation, infighting. Announcements in the rain”.
After dissing his own party, he goes on to distance himself from it, stating on the flyer :”We have let you down – I am so very sorry.
“But that’s NOT ME. I am a compassionate Conservative for the future.”
It’s a rather sorry state of affairs when a candidate thinks the only way to get voters to like you is by rejecting your own party.
Tories a ‘shower of shit’
The past week saw a more extreme case of distancing when the Conservative candidate James Cracknell described the party as a “shower of shit”.
Although he goes on to explain why he is still running as a Conservative candidate, it feels like it really can’t get any worse when one of your own candidates describes the party this way, in an official campaign video nonetheless.
Hannah Davenport is news reporter at Left Foot Forward
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