RESIDENTS in Battersea and Leeds have been receiving a bolt from the blue: a letter from Wokingham parliamentary candidate Dr Phillip Lee.
In one version of the letter, it warns the reader that the race to become MP for the London-based seat is a “choice between the Liberal Democrats or Corbyn’s Labour”.
It adds that “by lending your vote to the Liberal Democrats you can stop Jeremy Corbyn and his extreme left-wing policies”.
And it promises: “We will oppose any attempt to install Jeremy Corbyn as Prime Minister”.
Throughout, the letter misspells his first name as Philip, even in the signature.
The letter has Dr Lee’s name in a blue typeface, similar to the colour used by the Conservatives and is signed off as “Dr Philip Lee, Conservative MP 2010-2019, now supporting the Liberal Democrats”.
In the small print, it makes clear that the letter was sent out on behalf of the Liberal Democrats.
A number of similar letters have been sent out to voters across the country in recent weeks.
Reading East voters are among those to have received a missive from Boris Johnson that urges for honesty, while voters in other parts of the country have received a letter from “polling and elections expert” Mike Smithson, on behalf of the Liberal Democrats.
Such letters have been criticised on social media.
However, the Liberal Democrats have played down the criticism for the letter, saying that it was a distraction from the issues facing the Wokingham parliamentary constituency ahead of this Thursday’s general election.
A spokesman for Dr Lee’s Wokingham campaign said: “This was a central Lib Dem campaign based around Phillip’s national reputation as a politician who is prepared to put the country’s interest above his own career.
“To be honest this all look like a desperate attempt to distract attention from what is the real issue on Thursday which is, at long last, to elect an MP who has a plan for the constituency, a genuine interest in its constituents and will also fight to prevent Johnson’s hard Brexit as opposed to encouraging it.”
