Reform faces police probe over ‘concerned neighbour’ by-election letters
Reform UK is set to face a police investigation in Gorton and Denton after sending out letters from a “concerned neighbour” that did not disclose they were funded and disrupted by the party.
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Greater Manchester Police today confirmed it had received a report about an alleged breach of electoral law in the area ahead of this month’s hotly contested by-election.
Voters in Gorton and Denton were sent letters written by a local pensioner on Friday - but these letters failed to include they were printed, shared and funded by Nigel Farage’s Reform UK.
This information is required under electoral law.
The letter was written by 74-year-old local Patricia Clegg, who told the Guardian she is a member of Reform and was personally asked to write it.
She told the outlet: “I was asked to support Reform; would I be willing to do a letter and put my name to it? And I said, ‘Yeah’, and I left the rest to them.”
A Reform UK spokesperson blamed the lack of party branding on “an error occurred during the printing process” leading the legal imprint to be “inadvertently removed at the point of printing.”
Hardings Print Solutions, which printed the letter, has said it “took full responsibility” for the error.
A Green Party spokesperson has accused Reform of “playing dirty.”
“With Reform raking in millions from crypto billionaires and fossil fuel giants, you’d think they’d be able to afford to follow the law,” the spokesperson said.
“But instead they’re playing dirty – because they know the Greens are coming for them in Gorton and Denton.
“The only way to stop Reform’s politics of division and hate is to vote for Hannah Spencer – to elect a Green MP who will fight to lower bills, protect the NHS and rebuild our public services.”