Reform UK faces police probe over Gorton and Denton letter also used in Caerphilly by-election

Emily Price 

Reform UK is facing a police probe after being accused of deploying a campaign tactic similar to one used in Caerphilly last year, where voters received handwritten-style letters claiming to be from a “concerned neighbour”.

On Friday, several voters in Gorton and Denton reported receiving letters from “Patricia Clegg” – a 74 year old pensioner and former Labour voter struggling to pay her bills.

Clegg wrote in the letter: “For me, this by-election comes down to a simple choice: more broken promises for Keir Starmer or real change.

“That’s why I will be voting for Reform UK’s candidate Matthew Goodwin, who grew up in Manchester. Our area deserves someone who will stand up for local people.”

The February 26 by-election in the English constituency is expected to be tightly fought between Labour, the Greens and Nigel Farage’s party.

Fake hand written notes are a familiar piece of election publicity used by parties that have the resources.

However, the Gorton and Denton letter did not include the required marker confirming it has been produced and distributed by Reform UK as is required by the Electoral Commission.

Greater Manchester Police has since confirmed it had received a complaint and will be investigating the matter.

Failure to include the correct imprint identifying the promoter is an offence enforceable by the local police.

A Reform UK spokesperson told the Guardian newspaper that the campaign had commissioned the letter which was given to its print contractor “with the full and correct legal imprint, fully compliant with election law”.

The spokesperson said that “an error occurred during the printing process” and the legal imprint was “inadvertently removed at the point of printing” without the party’s knowledge.

“At no stage did the campaign know about, authorise or intend the distribution of material without a legal imprint,” the spokesperson added.

Hardings Print Solutions, in Middlesex, which printed the letter, says it takes “full responsibility” for the error.

Reform UK distributed similar party propaganda during the Caerphilly by-election in Wales last year.

Nation.Cymru reported in September how residents in the constituency had reported receiving a “deceptive” note claiming to be from an elderly “neighbour” and “life-long Labour voter”.

The printed letter, which used a handwritten style font, was signed off by pensioner “Andrew Russell” who pleaded with residents to join him in voting for Reform UK.

It sparked questions amongst locals about who the author of the letter was – with some suggesting the name Andrew Russell had no reference to anyone in the immediate area.

Small print at the end of the letter indicated that it was printed in England as election material for Reform UK – in line with the rules set by the Electoral Commission.

Reform’s former campaign manager for the Caerphilly branch, Andrew Jones, told Nation Cymru at the time that Andrew Russell was “a real person.”

But he refused to confirm whether Russell lived in Caerphilly, instead indicating that the author of the letter did live in “south Wales”.

Reform UK lost the Caerphilly by-election to Plaid Cymru’s Lindsay Whittle on October 23.