Voters question Lib Dems’ green credentials after forest of leaflets
Anger on the doorstep over ‘ridiculous’ waste of paper shoved repeatedly through letter boxes
THE Liberal Democrats have come under fire for contradicting their own environmental message by delivering a deluge of leaflets throughout the campaign.
As the party put climate change and green issues at the heart of its manifesto, many questioned the amount of paper the Lib Dems used on leaflets, letters and envelopes over the past few weeks.
Stuart Coster, a political researcher, said: “A very common theme on Twitter was that people were getting three
Lib Dem leaflets a day. They say they are in favour of the environment and yet are spending loads on paper. Multiple leaflets in a day is a ridiculous use of resources.”
Meanwhile, James Aris, acting on behalf of Kingston and Surbiton and Richmond Park Conservatives, was forced to write to the agents representing the Lib Dem candidates Sir Ed Davey and Sarah Olney, to remind them of the “legal threshold for candidate expenditure”.
In the letter Mr Aris, the agent for Tory candidates Aphra Brandreth and Zac Goldsmith, both of whom were unsuccessful in Thursday’s election, said: “Up and down the country Conservative campaigners have recorded unusually high volumes of high cost campaign activity by, and in support of, Liberal Democrat candidates.”
Mr Aris added that he thought it “prudent” to ensure the Lib Dem agents were “fully aware” of the “legal obligations before all spending is complete”.
Mr Aris cited voters saying they had received up to three leaflets in one day from the Lib Dems, as he added: “I have never seen that amount of literature in any election campaign that I have been involved in. It was insane.”
One activist within the Tory party said the amount of leafleting conducted by the Lib Dems had been “a pain for basically every activist who’s ever fought the party”.
Sara Gezdari, of the Richmond Park and North Kingston Conservatives Association, said throughout the campaign she encountered numerous people “complaining on the doorstep about the unbelievable number of leaflets” posted by the Lib Dems.
Richmond resident Nick Mead, 44, managing director of Eden Caterers, said: “The amount of material received through our letterbox from the Lib Dems was surprising, considering their environmental policies. There appeared to be excessive distribution of campaign material from the party but no actual visit throughout the campaign.”
Dom Kelly, a university student from Esher, said that he had received 11 leaflets during the campaign, which he said felt like “some sort of harassment”, while Rosalind Waddell posted on Twitter that there was a “fine balance between not enough and the forests worth of Lib Dem leaflets”.
During the campaign Jo Swinson, who announced she was standing down as the Liberal Democrats’ leader after losing her seat in East Dunbartonshire, had spoken proudly of the amount of Lib Dem leaflets monopolising the letterbox.
“If you’ve been getting loads of Lib Dem leaflets through your door, that’s a pretty good sign that you’re living somewhere where the Liberal Democrats have a pretty good chance of winning,” she said on the campaign trail.
A spokesman for the Liberal Democrats said that they “pride ourselves on working hard locally all year round on the issues that matter to local people”.
“During an election period this is even more important and we are committed to informing people about the issues that matter to them,” he said.
The Telegraph understands that the Lib Dems, whose commitment to the environment included pledging that it would fight climate change by ensuring 80 percent of power came from renewable sources by 2030, ensured all leaflets were recyclable and that the party aims to use recycled paper where possible.