'Deceptive campaign practices can mislead the public during elections - and that’s not on'

Fact checkers have raised concerns over leaflets being circulated by the Conservative Party in the London mayoral election campaign which have been condemned as ‘misleading’ and ‘deceptive’. 

Londoners may receive an alarming leaflet through their door that, on first sight, resembles a penalty charge notice, however it is instead a campaign leaflet from the Tory’s London mayoral candidate Susan Hall claiming that the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan is planning to hit drivers in the capital with a “pay-per-mile” scheme. 

However Khan has denied multiple times that he is planning to introduce such a scheme for London drivers, stating last September that it would not happen as long as he is mayor. 

In a post on X responding to the leaflets, the independent fact-checking organisation Full Fact wrote: “We’re concerned about these leaflets from the Conservative Party that some of our supporters are receiving through their doors.

“Deceptive campaign practices can mislead the public during elections – and that’s not on.

“Every voter deserves good information.”

Full Fact has launched a petition demanding improvements to the rules around transparency of campaign materials, which has received over 17,500 signatures.  

In previous elections Full Fact said it had consistently seen political parties use misleading formats, such as pretending to be local newspapers, in order to gain votes. 

It said these tactics risk “undermining trust in the important institutions that protect our democracy—the local press, and the electoral system itself” and has asked for political parties to pledge not to use deceptive campaign practices by no later than the next general election.

Hannah Davenport is news reporter at Left Foot Forward, focusing on trade unions and environmental issues

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