Outrage as Hillingdon Conservatives put impartiality of Council at risk

Residents in Hillingdon have been receiving their postal vote applications from what appears to be Hillingdon Council – but have instead come from the Conservative Party with campaign material included.

Residents have posted to their social media and contacted Labour Councillors querying the inclusion of the party political material in what looks like a letter from the Council, in envelopes that say, ‘if undelivered please return to Hillingdon Council civic centre’ which suggests that is where it originated. This leads to the conclusion that the Hillingdon Conservative Party have deliberately and knowingly made their material look as if it’s come from the Council, when it has actually come from a political party.

Speaking in response to this, Leader of Hillingdon’s Labour Group Cllr Peter Curling said:

“This is outrageous and it is deception. It is only 6 weeks before an election and the Conservative Party are sending out letters and postal vote applications that appear to be from the Council. This could be seen as an endorsement, and it is wrong.

“We have the utmost respect for the impartiality and meticulous running of the electoral process, by Hillingdon’s electoral returns office, and we believe that this could jeopardise the reputation of the council’s dedicated staff, as well as public confidence in the whole postal voting process.  It is highly irresponsible.

“We will be reporting this to the appropriate authorities.”