Exclusive: Reform UK just broke electoral law in Gorton and Denton

'At no stage did the campaign know about, authorise or intend the distribution of material without a legal imprint.'

Over the last few hours, The Mill have been contacted by several readers –  across Gorton, Denton, and Levenshulme – who have all received the same letter from one concerned pensioner: Patricia Clegg. In the letter – which is printed in faux-handwritten text – Clegg describes herself as 74 years old, now retired, who once “worked hard” and “paid [her] taxes”. She used to be a Labour voter — now she’s not. Now, she’s voting Reform, and she’s urging her ‘neighbours’ to do the same. You can read the full letter here.

Every letter is addressed, both on the envelope and at the head of the letter, to the residents of the property, by name, suggesting whoever sent them has access to the electoral register. One recipient of the letter who wrote in, told us that the name on her letter was indeed her real name – but not the name that any of her friends (or neighbours) know her by. This same recipient has opted out of the Open Register, meaning that her name should only be accessible to political parties or their agents for legitimate campaigning purposes. Crucially, not one person we spoke to knew of a Patricia Clegg in the area. “Just to be clear, I have no idea who she is and if she is even real,” wrote one recipient.

We have found a Patricia Clegg on Facebook: 74, as the letter claims, a Reform voter judging by her comments (though there is no indication that she previously supported Labour), and with family in Tameside. We reached out but she has not yet responded.

However, whether Patricia exists or not doesn’t affect the legality of the potential issue at hand. According to the Representation of the People Act 1983, “any material which can reasonably be regarded as intended to promote or procure the election of a candidate” must include the name and address of the printer of the document, the promoter of the material (ie. the Party involved) and the person on behalf of whom the material is being published (ie. the candidate). There is no indication on the letter that it has been sent by Reform, or on behalf of its candidate Matthew Goodwin. And, as local councillor Julie Reid pointed out to us, “if she’s got names and addresses, then she’s got access to the electoral register.” Only political parties legally have access to this register.

Here’s what else is particularly interesting: Each letter from Patricia comes with a code above the recipient’s name and address — a bizarre move from a pensioner regardless. The recipients have shown us that letters they’ve received from Reform – namely campaigning leaflets – have a code in the exact same format, also above the name and address. 

Not only this, we have seen that the letters sent to residents by Patricia, and the letters sent to them by Reform, all come in envelopes printed by Hardings Print Solutions Limited, a commercial printer in West London. When we rang Hardings, we were told by staff that the only time an envelope would have their address on it in this way, is if they themselves had printed what’s inside — meaning that both Reform’s leaflets and Patricia’s letter were printed en masse in West London. “We don’t supply the envelopes, we just print what goes inside it,” a staff member told us over the phone. He clarified that it would be impossible to go into a shop or Post Office, and purchase an envelope with their address on it. On a later call, another staff member confirmed they print materials for Reform.

Holly Ulyett, a Gorton resident, told us she received the letter with all her other mail from the postman at 10am this morning. “I thought: ‘oh, this is a bit strange, who on earth is Patricia?’ Then I thought this reads exactly like it comes from Reform but nothing indicated it was from Reform, so I started googling Electoral Commission,” she says. Holly, like many of her neighbours, is annoyed about the letter — and argues that it particularly targets pensioners. “It’s very obviously trying to trick people who are a bit older, who are susceptible, who think it’s real.”

If it is the case that Reform has funded and distributed a letter on behalf of a local pensioner, and not included a party imprint, this is a breach of electoral law. If, alternatively, Patricia did send these letters, and was given access to the electoral register, this is also illegal. 

We made multiple calls to Reform’s local campaign team in Gorton and Denton but got no answer. We asked them via email if they funded the printing and distribution, and whether they agree the lack of a party imprint constitutes a breach in electoral law, the party said it commissioned a letter from Clegg “with the full and correct legal imprint”, but “it has since become clear that an error occurred during the printing process. Due to a production failure by a third party print supplier outside of Reform’s control, the legal imprint was inadvertently removed at the point of printing without our knowledge.”

“At no stage did the campaign know about, authorise or intend the distribution of material without a legal imprint. The omission arose solely from a supplier error after compliant materials had been submitted and approved.” We will be providing further updates Monday.

UPDATE: Following publication, a spokesperson for Hardings sent the following statement, via Reform UK: “Hardings Printers has identified an error in the production of election leaflets printed and distributed on behalf of Reform UK for the Gordon & Denton by-election. We take our responsibilities in relation to election material very seriously and take full responsibility for this error occurring. We apologise to Reform UK and the voters of Gordon & Denton for this error.”

If someone forwarded you this newsletter, click here to sign up to get quality local journalism in your inbox.