UK Politics: should I report this election material?

November 26, 2019 11:50 AM

I've had some political advertising material through the door in the run-up to the general election. It is designed to look like a newspaper and the fact that it has been produced by a political party is only explicitly indicated by the "Produced by xx on behalf of the xx party" in white text, 1 millimetre high, on a red background at the bottom of the front page.

My constituency is an ultra-marginal. It looks from the Electoral Commission guidelines (PDF) that the material meets the letter of the law in that there is an "imprint", even though it is so hard to see. Is there any point reporting this to the police? Is there any other action I could or should take? Thanks.

posted by paduasoy to Law & Government (7 answers total)

I really doubt you'd be able to have anything effective done about pre-electoral shenanigans before they've had their intended effect.

Election campaigns suck, and the tactics of the likes of Crosby Textor have make them suck considerably worse.
posted by flabdablet at 12:04 PM on November 26, 2019 [1 favorite]

There is also a particular kind of twisted genius in spreading a message via literal fake newspapers in 2019.

These arseholes know full well what they can get away with.

That said, report away. It will do nobody any harm.
posted by flabdablet at 12:06 PM on November 26, 2019

Do your local TV stations have tip lines? This may be an interesting story for them and would totally backfire on the folks who cobbled the "newspaper" together.
posted by BoscosMom at 1:01 PM on November 26, 2019 [4 favorites]

Response by poster: Thanks, all - UK-specific ideas most welcome. I don't think local TV stations are a thing here, though I may be wrong.

Thanks also to the user who MeMailed me - I have taken your advice and let the opposing political candidate's team know my concerns.
posted by paduasoy at 1:59 PM on November 26, 2019 [6 favorites]

Is it the Lib Dems’ fake newspapers? The Guardian is on it: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/nov/26/ lib-dems-lambasted-over-fake-newspapers-campaign-material
posted by vickyverky at 8:59 PM on November 26, 2019 [2 favorites]

Best answer: Good grief, apparently they're all at it. From that Guardian article: "The tactic of masquerading political pamphlets as newspapers has been used by all major British political parties for many years, with local Labour and Conservative candidates also taking the same approach during this election. The Tories have produced a similar publication called Pudsey Future, while voters in Tooting, south London, have received a publication called Daily Press, which presents itself as a newspaper that is "free, paid for by local residents", but does not state on its front page that it is a Labour campaign leaflet."

You might want to take a look at Election Leaflets to see if yours is already there, and add it if it's not.
posted by ManyLeggedCreature at 3:12 AM on November 27, 2019

Response by poster: Thanks. No, it's not a LD one. It's not on the Election Leaflets site (I haven't got an easy way to get it on but will see if I can get someone else to). I've heard back from the opposition team saying they want to have a look at it - they agree it is probably legal but may be able to make a point about people with visual impairments, so I'm hoping to post a copy off tomorrow to them.

Thanks, everyone, this was very helpful.
posted by paduasoy at 12:47 PM on November 27, 2019