Election protocol - Parish letter delivered with party election leaflet

Question

In several streets in my area, an election leaflet was delivered with a parish council letter. Is this is a flouting of the purdah rules prior to an election and how does one go about dealing with a situation like this before the election takes place?

Answer 1

It depends on what the organisation arrangements are for delivering the newsletter.

If councillors deliver to their own patch, there is nothing to stop them also dropping an election leaflet.

The legal issue would only arise if the council had arranged to also drop election leaflets as well.

Comments

Surely the fact that 2 have been delivered together shows planning, usually letters like this would be posted. This letter drop was agreed by committee but not voted on by the Full Council.

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I fully agree with you as the only way there would be a problem would be the if the Parish Council used its resources to deliver election material

Answer 2

Strictly speaking, this doesn't contravene the legislation, but situations such as this should be avoided. Delivering the two items together may create the impression that the parish council has aligned itself with a particular candidate or political party, thereby sacrificing its impartiality. The arbiter of such matters would be the Returning Officer and/or the Monitoring Officer of your principal authority.