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‘Did you know?’ posters Labour fury
Opposition accuses council of promoting Tory party with taxpayers’ cash before by-election
THE West End Ward by-election has been rocked by allegations that a poster campaign to promote the council is biased towards the Conservatives and could have prejudiced the outcome of the vote.
As last night’s (Thursday) votes are counted, with a result not due until after midnight, opposition leaders are furious at the Town Hall’s “Did You Know?” campaign, claiming it promotes a controversial Tory policy of keeping council tax low.
Labour leader Paul Dimoldenberg said the poster slogan “You pay the second lowest council tax in the UK and we provide over 250 services” breaches government codes on local authority publicity because it does not explain the reasons for low council tax in Westminster.
He says the claim seeks to have a “persuasive effect”, “over-simplifies the facts, issues and arguments” and does not “achieve the necessary degree of balance, or capture the complexities of opposing arguments”, contrary to the code.
Around 3,500 of the posters have been put up across Westminster, with 350 in the West End ward, where the Conservatives are expected to keep the seat left empty following the death of Ian Wilder in July.
The code specifies taxpayers’ money must not be used to “mount publicity campaigns whose primary purpose is to persuade the public to hold a particular view on a question of policy”.
The council has rubbished the allegations, saying the posters are not party political.
But Councillor Dimoldenberg has written to the head of legal services at City Hall to complain.
He said: “The council has clearly breached the law by spending £20,000 of council tax payers’ money promoting the Conservatives in the run-up to the West End by-election and next year’s council elections. Why should hard-working Westminster residents pay for Conservative posters? I insist on a full investigation and for the Conservatives to pay back this money without delay.”
Council leader Colin Barrow said: “I find it somewhat perplexing, not to say concerning, that the minority party is calling for the sacking of hard working and dedicated council officers because they’ve been doing their job in explaining Westminster’s excellent services to our residents across the city
“They clearly explain the work of the council and do not promote one particular political party over another. They are part and parcel of the communication work across Westminster to keep residents informed about the huge array of local services we provide and how they can best access them.
“Moreover, this particular campaign was planned months in advance and does not constitute a breach of local authority guidelines on pre-election publicity.”
The seat was contested by Jonathan Glanz (Conservative), Damian Dewhirst (Labour), Christopher Gonzalez (Liberal Democrat) and Tristan Smith (Green). A full report of the by-election will be carried in next week’s West End Extra.
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