Candice forcefully makes her point.

It is deeply disappointing that the Liberal Democrats are circulating misleading bar charts again. Residents will remember in the General Election this time last year, the Lib Dems circulated inaccurate and misleading polling data to persuade people to vote for them. The Electoral Commission, as well as the independent fact-checking charity Full Fact, said these misleading campaign techniques risked undermining people’s trust in elections, and the Electoral Commission called on parties to take “greater responsibility” for how their campaigns impact public trust.

Yet the Lib Dems are at it again, this time arguing that residents in Kingston, Richmond and Hounslow must cast their vote for the Lib Dems in the 2021 London and Assembly elections ‘to send the Tory Government a message’.

I’m not sure what message they think that will send.

In October, polls put Labour’s Sadiq Khan on 49%, his Tory rival Shaun Bailey on 28% and the Lib Dems on 10%. Voting Lib Dem, whilst increasing their vote share, would just reduce Labour’s lead over the Tories.

If you look at the actual 2016 result (see graphic) here in Kingston, Richmond and Hounslow, the Tories won both the Mayoral election and the South West Assembly seat, with Labour coming second and the Lib Dems trailing on third. So voting Lib Dem only ensured a Tory victory.

With the fear and uncertainty surrounding COVID, residents deserve better than this cynical type of campaigning. So, I have written to Gareth Roberts asking him to respect the Electoral Commission’s recommendations and stop using techniques that undermine public trust.