Crewe Labour group lied about the llamas too, says Cameron's candidate

The top hat incident isn't the only piece of truth-bending by Labour in the Crewe and Nantwich by-election, Tory candidate Edward Timpson said last night – they also lied about "his" llamas.

Labour claimed the 34-year-old barrister "keeps exotic llamas at his £1.5million mansion".

But when The Mail on Sunday asked him if the animals were his, he said firmly: "No. They belong to the retired farmer behind my house."

And for the record, does he have a top hat? Again, the reply is an emphatic: "No I don't."

Mr Timpson, who is the son of the founder of the Timpson shoe repair business, spoke out as his party accused Labour of "disgraceful" attempts to smear them in Crewe.

These, they say, include trying to whip up a racist backlash by claiming the Conservatives are "opposed to making foreign nationals carry an ID card" – when in fact the Tories are against ID cards for anyone.

Other tactics, say the Tories, included haranguing voters in 4am phone calls pretending to be Tory canvassers and masquerading as pinstriped Tories while driving through council estates in Land Rovers decorated with blue balloons.

Mr Timpson, who has three young children with wife Julia, says he refuses to be intimidated by Labour's tactics.

"None of us get to choose which family we're born into but I come from a very hard-working family who've built up a business through their own endeavour, which employs a lot of people up in this region," he said.