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MP broke rules by writing to voters in next-door seat
Katharine Barney, Evening Standard25 Feb 2009
A LABOUR MP has been accused of breaking Government rules by delivering campaigning letters on Commons notepaper to residents in a neighbouring constituency.
Andy Slaughter, MP for Shepherd's Bush, will contest the new Hammersmith constituency against Conservative youth worker Shaun Bailey after boundary changes.
Last week he sent letters to the residents of the area headed with the official portcullis logo. But the practice is banned under Parliamentary guidelines amid fears it will mislead residents about the identity of their local MP.
Today Mr Bailey accused his competitor of being "shrewd and sly" and said he was "playing a game of smoke and mirrors".
He said Mr Slaughter was making the next election an unfair fight by implying he was already their MP.
However, the Labour MP replied that those complaining should "get a life".
In the letter, which addresses the expansion of Heathrow, Mr Slaughter says: "My first duty as an MP is to you. As a lifelong resident and elected representative here for 25 years I feel this issue is so important that I need the freedom to continue campaigning against Heathrow expansion."
Mr Bailey said: "In using those phrases and that logo he is using an emblem that signifies trust. It is much easier to fight someone on equal footing than an incumbent.
"He has been very shrewd about this, but has broken the official guidelines by using the emblem."
The current Hammersmith and Fulham MP, Greg Hands, is considering making a complaint to the standards and privileges committee, which could lead to an official reprimand or force Mr Slaughter into making an apology.
Mr Hands has also raised the matter in the House of Commons.
The Tory MP said: "I think it is absolutely wrong. The tone of the letter implies he is the MP to my constituents. I was democratically elected by them and he was democratically elected by his.
"If we ignore this behaviour we effectively give it the green light and given the massive boundary changes coming up we are opening ourselves up to MPs abusing public money and the use of the House of Commons logo."
But Mr Slaughter said he was taking the matter with "a pinch of salt".
He said: "Frankly Greg Hands should get a life and pay attention to his own constituency rather than concentrate on running Shaun Bailey's campaign."
The contested area currently falls into the Tory seat of Hammersmith and Fulham and is bordered by the Labour seat of Ealing, Acton and Shepherd's Bush.
In the next election part of the Hammersmith and Fulham constituency will become Chelsea and Fulham, where Mr Hands is expected to retain his seat.
The remaining part will be added to Ealing, Acton and Shepherd's Bush to create the Hammersmith seat.
Reader views (12)
Although Slaughter usually votes with the party he recently took a more courageous stand than rebelling on votes by resigning from his government position as PPS over Heathrow's expansion. Evidently Slaughter is principled and is ready to support the will of the constituency at the expense of his career in the party.
- Katie, London W12, 23/05/2009 11:34
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With regards to James' comment that Mr Slaughter does not just "take the party line"; I'm afraid you're quite incorrect. In fact according to the analysis of his voting record on theyworkforyou.com Mr. Slaughter "hardly ever rebels" against the labour party. This shows to him to be more likely to take the part line than Mr. Greg Hands who the same website reports to "occassionally rebel".
I am not attempting to pass comment on either of their relative merits and in actual fact have never and probably will never vote for either of them but I would prefer people use the internet for factual character assasinations rather than half baked accusatory ideas.
- Resident of the affected area, London, UK, 09/03/2009 14:55
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Good for Mr Slaughter. I received his letter and its quite clear he's the only one prepared to stand up for the people of Hammersmith. Every other politician just takes the Party line. I don't care what the rules say, we need people like him in politics.
- James Vankowicz, Hammersmith, 27/02/2009 00:52
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I haven't received the letter and would like to. I would rather vote for Mugabe than assist the election of another Tory in the Borough. I would welcome Mr Slaughter as my MP. As he says, Get A Life.
- Long Time Hammersmith Resident, London, 26/02/2009 00:01
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Sack him.
- Roger Slade, Winchester, Hampshire, England, 25/02/2009 22:12
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Shame on him for trying to pass himself off as the MP of another constituency. If I lived in his real constituency, I'd be asking why he is spending time talking to people in another MP's constituency rather than working on issues in the area he was elected to represent. This type of mistrust needs to stop.
- Unimpressed, London, UK, 25/02/2009 22:09
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I got the letter - and he certainly isn't my MP. I get masses of other political literature because I live in Hammersmith, and I agree the letter was really odd. It was bright red with a Commons logo on it. Quite how Mr Slaughter can expect us to support a candidate who uses this kind of cheap half-truth, I just don't know.
- Charlie, London, 25/02/2009 16:39
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Think yourselves lucky, I can't get a response out of my local Liberal MP when I write to him. He lives 300m away and 2 years ago 80 local residents signed a petition about the siting of a mobbile mast and posted it through his front door. His secretary sent us a letter saying he would "look into the matter", and that was the last we heard about it, needless to say we now have a lovely 15 metre mobile mast blocking our view.
- Bob, Cheam, 25/02/2009 16:06
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Tip of the iceberg from this government and labour party.
- Andrew E, Leaving the sinking ship England, 25/02/2009 15:23
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Typical, One rule for NuLabour, one rule for everybody else.
- Jim, London, 25/02/2009 14:50
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I received this letter and I immediately noticed this, I did think it was odd, no politician has ever sent to me a round robin letter on Commons paper before, yet we get loads of campaign literature because we're marginal.
However, the letter made no sense. Mr Slaughter asked you to vote him to prevent Heathrow expansion - except it is Labour govt policy to expand Heathrow and voting for him would help put the govt back in office, and he would be powerless to stop them. Voting for Mr Bailey would help put the Tories in power, and both Mr Bailey and a Tory govt would guarantee a hold on Heathrow expansion. So, headed paper or not, a waste of money on an argument that doesn't stack up and only encouraged me in my intention to vote for Shaun Bailey.
- Tom Moncrieff, london, 25/02/2009 10:38
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The Portcullis emblem signifies trust? Not any longer it doesn't, it signifies the exact opposite thanks in no small part to the sleazy behaviour of many of those who are currently raking in their claims on the Troughminster gravy train!
- Derrick, A Once Great Land, 25/02/2009 10:13
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