Elections Anonymous leaflet’s false claims lead to police probe
POLICE have launched an investigation after a Cheltenham councillor was targeted by an anonymous leaflet that makes false allegations about his track record.
The leaflet against John Payne, who is standing for re-election to Cheltenham Borough Council to represent Prestbury, has been distributed to all residents in the ward.
The flyer contains false and misleading allegations about the People Against Bureaucracy councillor’s expenses and voting record.
Police are trying to find out who produced the flyer and say the lack of attribution means it is in breach of electoral law.
Returning officer Paul Jones also said a review was underway to determine if the leaflet contravened legislation in respect of candidate expenses used for the purposes of elections.
He said: “It has been brought to my attention that a leaflet is being systematically distributed to all residents in the ward of Prestbury containing false information in respect of John Payne.
“It is my personal view that the contents of this leaflet is in contravention of section 106 of the Representation of the People Act 1983 in that said leaflet is relaying false statements towards a candidate with the purpose of affecting the return of a candidate at the borough elections due to take place on May 5, 2022.
“The purpose of the leaflet is to make false statements in respect of John Payne’s voting record at a full council meeting that took place on 16 November 2020 and an allegation that he has claimed expenses from the borough council in the sum of £22,457.92 since 2018.
“In respect of both these allegations the actual situation is as follows: The claim that John Payne voted for Idsall Drive car park in Prestbury to be sold off is factually incorrect.
“The cabinet member for finance at the time made it clear in her opening statement that ‘it is important to say at this point that what I am asking of council today is to note the potential disposal as there would, of course, need to be all of the normal due diligence and consultation done before cabinet would accept any decision.’
“The claim that John Payne welcomed the proposals and fully supported them and that John Payne put on record his thanks to the finance team has also been taken out of context.
“The full script of what John Payne said at that meeting was: ‘I would agree with everything that everyone has said. Councillor Hay and Paul Jones and his team have pulled together a strategy that is innovative and imaginative and that’s very impressive. But what I would like to do is to highlight something that Paul did which has not been well-publicised and you can imagine with regard to the potential disposal of the Idsall Drive car park in Prestbury has caused a great deal of unrest in the village.
“‘We’re normally a very peaceable village and I have to apologise to Paul that he has been inundated with emails stressing the value of the car park to the viability of the High Street… but that’s for another day; I was really pleased that Cllr Hay said that nothing would happen until there had been due diligence, and that’s absolutely fine, I have no problem with that.’
“‘What I would like to thank Paul for is the fact that the people who wrote to him, he didn’t simply acknowledge the emails, he wrote to every single one a detailed response, and for a man who is so busy and has so many commitments, I think that goes above and beyond the call of duty and I would like to thank him publicly for doing that.’”
Mr Jones added: “The second allegation in the leaflet is that John Payne has received the sum of £22,457.92 in members’ expenses since 2018. This is factually incorrect. John Payne has not claimed nor received any payment in respect of expenses.”
A Gloucestershire Constabulary spokesperson said they had received a report regarding the distribution of a printed flyer in the Prestbury area of Cheltenham that related to the upcoming local elections. They said any election publication must include the name and address of the printer, the promoter and anyone else for whom the material is being published.
This included material campaigning against a particular candidate.
“The flyer in question was lacking this detail and after seeking advice from the Electoral Commission, it was determined that there has been a breach of electoral legislation,” the spokesperson said.
“We are now conducting inquiries towards identifying who produced the flyer, and anyone with information which may help is asked to make contact with police by completing the online form and quoting incident 138 of 25 April. Alternatively, you can call police on 101, quoting the same incident number.”
The police form can be found at www.gloucestershire.police.uk/tua/ tell-us-about/cor/tell-us-about-existing-case-report/
It is my personal view that the contents of this leaflet is in contravention of section 106 of the Representation of the People Act 1983 in that said leaflet is relaying false statements towards a candidate with the purpose of affecting the return of a candidate at the borough elections
Returning officer Paul Jones