Green Party campaign tactics have reached a new low in a leaflet delivered to residents in Kingshurst and Fordbridge. The Green Party’s tactics include:

a) Using pictures of Green Party Councillors to give the impression that their candidate is being supported by local people. The front page of their latest leaflet has a ½ page picture of their candidate pretending to be speaking to a local resident on their doorstep. No such thing, the ‘local resident’ is non-other than Councillor Maggie Allen, who represents Shirley West and does not live in Solihull – let alone Kingshurst and Fordbridge.

b) They claim that their candidate is a ‘local champion’ with a ‘track record’. The truth is that he is NOT local. His address is in another part of the Borough, about 12 miles from the ward. Indeed you probably couldn’t find an address that was any further away from Kingshurst & Fordbridge but still in Solihull. The claim of having a track record is ludicrous and the leaflet even states that he has campaigned for a new Kingshurst Parade since 2008. Nothing could be further from the truth – his first visit to Kingshurst and Fordbridge was more like 12 months ago. Like so much else, his claims about the Parade are so much fiction. Even worse he is presented as an alternative to an ‘invisible Labour councillor’. This is the ultimate irony. Flo Nash is one of the best known councillors in both Kingshurst & Fordbridge and more generally within Solihull. She is local to the ward and has dedicated many years of her life to serving local residents and supporting community and voluntary organisations.

c) At first sight it is hard to see who the leaflet is from. It looks like it might be a community newsletter that is simply reporting on the election. This is intentional and seeks to give the impression that it is reporting on a local poll that puts Labour and Green neck and neck with Tory voters being told to vote Green. This must be challenged on a number of counts. Firstly, in the most recent election it was Labour and Conservatives that were neck and neck, with the Greens in a poor third place. Secondly, the polling information must be questioned. Who conducted the poll; over what period; over what area; and what was the size of the poll. Having spoken to residents and campaigners across Kingshurst and Fordbridge, we have no evidence that any ward-wide poll actually took place at all.

Councillor Flo Nash said. ‘This leaflet, and indeed the Green Party campaign in general, is a disgrace. The claims within it are designed to mislead with a hope that residents will be taken in and vote for their candidate. There is a very real risk that a vote for the Green Party candidate will simply make it more likely that the Tories will win. That is the very last thing that the residents of Kingshurst and Fordbridge need’.