Tory candidates are publishing fake newspapers ahead of next month’s local elections – with bright red mastheads and no mention of the party’s name.
An investigation by the Byline Times found voters across England have been sent mock newspapers branded in the traditional colours of the Labour Party.
On closer inspection, they turn out to be Conservative Party leaflets although there is no mention of this on the masthead.
It follows similar tactics by the Liberal Democrats who earlier this month faced claims of apeing local lifestyle magazines in their campaign material.
One of the areas in which the Tory leaflets were distributed was Eltham and Chislehurst in South London, where voters are going to the polls on 2 May to choose the London Mayor.
The ‘Eltham and Chislehurst Future’ mock newspaper from the Conservatives makes no mention of the party’s mayoral candidate Susan Hall, except for a small imprint which reads that it is “on behalf of Charlie Davis and Susan Hall”. The Conservative Party is not mentioned at all.
One Londoner who received the bright red leaflet told Byline Times: “The Conservatives are pushing party political leaflets pretending to be local newspapers.
“At first glance, the red header suggested to me that it was a Labour leaflet or a new local paper. Obviously not reading it, but if I didn’t follow local politics I’m not sure how I’d interpret it.”
A similar red-top leaflet was also circulating in Godalming, Surrey, under the masthead ‘Godalming and Ash Future.’
Godalming resident Chris Everett told Byline Times: “There are only two mentions I could find of the word ‘Conservative’ and nowhere in large print.”
Other Conservative leaflets sent out in Gloucester and neighbouring Cheltenham also boast the red masthead design.
One voter from Gloucester, said: “[At] first glance you’d think it was Labour, but actually [it’s] promoting the Conservatives. Why don’t they want to use their usual blue I wonder?”
The Cheltenham leaflet attracted the attentions of Shon Douglas, comms manager for a locally-based insurance company, who had previously criticised the Lib Dems over their use of the tactic.
Posting on X, he wrote: “I’d argue this one is even more flagrantly misleading owing to the miniscule reference to it being Tory propaganda.”
HTFP has previously highlighted the Conservatives’ repeated use of mock newspapers as a campaign tactic, for instance when circulating pamphlets last year under the titles of the Wolverhampton Chronicle, Sandwell Chronicle and Dudley Chronicle.
The names are actually those of real free newspapers published by the Midland News Association and distributed across parts of the West Midlands under the title Chronicle Week.
The Tories were subsequently forced to issue an unreserved apology to the MNA and to provide a donation to charity.
In a separate incident last year, the Tories resurrected the name of a defunct local title, the Lincoln Chronicle, which was closed by National World predecessor Johnston Press in 2007.
In another episode, also last year, independent publisher Quest Media demanded an apology from Robert Largan, Conservative MP for Derbyshire’s High Peak constituency, after he circulated a campaign pamphlet under the name of a defunct title called the High Peak Reporter.
Quest, whose titles inlude the Tameside Reporter, Glossop Chronicle and Oldham Reporter, owns the IP rights to the name High Peak Reporter which circulated from 1887 to 1998.
The Society of Editors, which holds its annual conference next week, has vowed to “name and shame” political parties who use campaign material disguised as local newspapers during this year’s elections.
Both Byline Times and HTFP have contacted the Conservative Party for comment.