AIBU to think this is electoral fraud?

It’s clear he didn’t break the law but the law itself does little to enforce decent behaviour on the part of political candidates (of all parties). It’s a weird gap in what is analogous to consumer law - as the references upthread to the ASA suggest. The Electoral Commission does not ‘not care’ about this. It just has no powers to regulate it.

Consumer law is there to protect people from being exploited or conned by companies. Yes of course people should be able to read which party a candidate is standing for on a ballot form. Spotting the imprint is less easy as the type used is often well below the font size that the RSB recommends is used in publication (but this again is not specified in legislation). But a lot of people with the right to vote do not understand even basics like which person leads which party, let alone have the knowledge to pick apart the double negatives and multi-channel messages that politicians use to confuse people. Where the line is drawn on what an ‘average’ person would be able to understand is extremely difficult to define. But I don’t think it’s unreasonable to say that this example of campaign literature would fall well below the appropriate standard.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ckmm6nexlngo

ilovevinyl
Sure hang on. This was when his girlfriend had to stop him shouting at the man in the pub and after the video ended he got aggressive

Thanks for the screenshots, although unless I am missing something I can't see any mention of Robert Largan punching anyone in the face, only claims that he was shouting? As for claims that the petition was presented in good faith, that's questionable as Deborah Windley is a director of Glossop Labour Club - alongside Kasey Carver who is named in one of my earlier links. Not to mention that the group were recording the MP. The petition was shared on change.org so claims that the signatories were all local constituents is clearly open to question as well.

and this is what he said happened in Tesco in Whaley bridge and then the person who actually was the 'security breach's response

I've just googled the name of the author's 76 year old mother mentioned in the screenshot (he wasn't named himself) and came up with this;

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/oct/26/green-party-candidate-chris-hallam-christine-hallam-suspicion-of-stalking-tory-mp

Electoral commission don't care about this

but it says the party name next to candidate name, so surely you would look at that if you wanted to vote labour, rather than the candidate name?

If that’s the plan, to confuse people, I just can’t see how it would work?

I think the advertising standards people would be interested in that. It is deliberately misleading.

The Advertising Standards Authority has no control over political campaign advertising: https://www.asa.org.uk/type/non_broadcast/code_section/07.html; https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/who-regulates-political-advertising/. Political campaign advertising does not have to be legal, decent, honest and/or truthful.

Anybody who believes anything in a political advert is a moron. Nobody should be reading them.

The police will be investigating this campaign for misrepresentation, but the small print states that it was produced by the Conservative Party, so I don't think they're likely to be able to do anything.

@Clavinova continued

@Clavinova and this is what he said happened in Tesco in Whaley bridge and then the person who actually was the 'security breach''s response

Sure hang on. This was when his girlfriend had to stop him shouting at the man in the pub and after the video ended he got aggressive

ilovevinyl
He held a surgery in a pub and got in a fight with someone who was asking him a question. As in punched him in the face (Largan was the one punching the other man)

Do you have a link? I could only find this;

April 2020
Conservative politician [Robert Largan] who went on to become MP for High Peak was left 'extremely scared' when he was punched in the face by a violent thief who snatched his iPhone X on a train, a court heard.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8244959/Violent-thief-threatened-MP-Im-going-murder-punched-face.html

This is very interesting as another Conservative leaflet I got today was in the style of a fake tabloid newspaper. Nothing could make me want to read it less than presenting it like that.

IDK about electoral fraud, but it is definitely batshittery.

I can't really imagine that working.

The law and/or rules are very weak in this area.

The Electoral Commission admits there is nothing in law to control the style and presentation of campaign material. The Commission’s remit when it comes to campaign material relates only to whether printed material has an imprint. The laws require campaigners to be clear about who is responsible for producing and promoting campaign material, although these do not require the inclusion of a specific label or text. An imprint only currently requires the name and address of the printer and promoter who authorised the material. Thus the imprint doesn't even have to say which party the candidate represents - the candidate could use his own name and address. The imprint just has to be true.

During the 2019 election, the Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat parties all used "fake newspapers" and the trade body for real newspapers (NMA) and the Society of Editors have complained to the Electoral Commission about all three parties.

😱 it's just so underhanded!!

I also had a leaflet through today in Horwich - it was mostly red so I assumed Labour. Nope - Conservatives. Sneaky 🐍

He held a surgery in a pub and got in a fight with someone who was asking him a question. As in punched him in the face (Largan was the one punching the other man)

And in march 2023 He also threw a fundraiser 'for good causes' said he had the children's minister attending then went into detail about what she has stood for (children and disabilities) and that it would be fantastic event raising money for good causes tickets cost £25 each and comments were deleted on Facebook when people asked what charities he was raising money for and then he edited his posters to say he was raising money for 'Robert Largan's fighting fund for the next general election'

Sooner he's gone the better

Is that you, Robert?

It wasn't just the previous Labour MP. At least three Labour councillors, plus activists made or repeated antisemtic remarks, including one councillor who directed abuse at Largan himself, referring to him as 'Bobby Largerman', repeatedly posting pictures of Jelly Babies asking him if he 'ate children' and posting illustrations of the Wandering Jew (although Largan says he isn't Jewish).

Largan's office was vandalised in 2022 (following Partygate revelations) - despite him criticising Johnson. Activists have staged a number of protests/stunts outside his office on various topics, orgainised petitions against him - it seems to me as though it's Labour who have the unfair advantage here.

Good attempt at whataboutery @Clavinova, but it fails.

The previous Labour candidate/MP saying something appalling almost five years ago doesn't negate the fact that Largan is behaving in a very dishonest way.

The former Labour MP and associates discussed here:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2019/11/23/labour-activists-targeting-rivals-racist-abuse/
https://www.thejc.com/news/jlm-urges-labour-mp-ruth-george-to-call-out-councillor-who-shared-neo-nazi-material-ec90so4e 
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/feb/19/labour-mp-ruth-george-israel-funding-independent-group-luciana-berger
https://www.buxtonadvertiser.co.uk/news/politics/council/county-council-leader-calls-for-former-high-peak-mp-ruth-georges-suspension-from-labour-3030973

It's pretty pathetic that the only way a Tory candidate thinks he can get elected is by tricking people into thinking people he's a labour candidate.

In a local election my mother and her sister went to vote. When they were in the booths my Aunt called to mother, 'Alice, I've forgotten my reading glasses' Mother called back 'Our one is the third one down'!

The people running the station were curled up laughing though one did say 'That's not strictly speaking legal!'.