'Petty' Labour complain after TINY photo appears in campaign leaflet

'Petty' Labour complain after TINY photo appears in campaign leaflet

WATCH: Chris Curtis discusses the local elections

GB NEWS
Millie Cooke

By Millie Cooke


Published: 08/04/2024

- 13:05

Updated: 08/04/2024

- 13:05

A Labour councillor claimed her appearance on Green Party leaflet, however small, could suggest she is endorsing the campaign

A row has broken out between Labour and the Green Party, after a Labour councillor was pictured in the background of a Green Party campaign leaflet.

The Labour Party complained to election officials after Claire Kidman, a Labour councillor in Crome, noticed a picture of herself in a leaflet promoting Charlie Caine's campaign.


Caine, a Green party candidate, is campaigning in the Mile Cross ward of Norwich council.

Kidman claimed her appearance on the leaflet, however small, could suggest she is endorsing Caine's election campaign.

Claire Kidman

A row has broken out between Labour and the Green Party, after a Labour councillor was pictured in the background of a Green Party campaign leaflet

Claire Kidman/The Common Lot

She was pictured in the background of an image of Caine conducting a musical choir.

The Green Party, which had printed hundreds of the leaflets, agreed to reprint a new version of the poster to remove the image.

But the spat has been criticised by other councillors, with one dubbing it "petty".

Karen Davis, an Independent councillor, described it as a "storm in a teacup".

And Judith Lubbock, a Liberal Democrat, added: "It is a bit petty, but I'm sure the Greens would be petty too, if things were the other way round."

But Kidman said the advert was a "misrepresentation" to voters.

She said: "I look like I am both literally and metaphorically behind him.

The full image with Kidman in the background

She was pictured in the background of an image of Caine conducting a musical choir

The Common Lot

"It was a bit of a shock. I don't endorse him in any way and this is a misrepresentation to voters."

Voters in England will go to the polls on May 2 to elect more than 2,600 councillors.

Labour and the Conservatives are defending just under 1,000 seats each, while the Liberal Democrats are defending around 400 seats.


LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:

The Greens are trying to hold on to over 100.

The Tories are braced for a devastating result at the local elections, as the party trails more than 20 points behind Labour in the polls.

You may like