Shaun Bailey criticised for using fake City Hall coat of arms for the second time

THE Conservative party’s London mayoral candidate was criticised for sending voters letters using fake City Hall coat of arms for a second time in recent weeks.

Shaun Bailey's campaign has sent letters to potential voters saying that Londoners’ taxes would rise in language that echoed financial penalty notices, reported The Guardian.

According to the report, the letters were marked on the outside with text saying 'Do not ignore'. On the inside the letters were marked with a fake City Hall coat of arms, with a cod Latin motto underneath.

Though there was no mention of the Conservative party, the letter directed voters to a website that asked for a name, email and postcode, potentially valuable information for campaigners ahead of the election.

The election is scheduled for May 2021. It was originally planned for May 2020, but was delayed by the coronavirus pandemic.

The Labour incumbent, Sadiq Khan, is predicted to win.

The Conservative mayoral campaign used the same approach last month, publishing a “facts” leaflets and a website which also did not make their source clear, the report further said.

“It is inappropriate and misleading for a candidate for mayor of London to brand campaign material as coming from City Hall. Self-respecting politicians should make their arguments in their own names," Will Moy, chief executive of Full Fact, an independent factchecking charity, told The Guardian.

Politicians from both Labour and the Liberal Democrats called for Bailey to apologise.

Wes Streeting, Labour MP for Ilford North, said: “The Tory mayoral candidate is now making a regular habit of deliberately lying to Londoners and spreading fake news.”

Luisa Porritt, the Liberal Democrat mayoral candidate, described the  letter as a 'cheap trick' to play at a time many Londoners are worried sick about making ends meet.

“Londoners have a right to know the full facts. And the fact is Sadiq Khan’s planning to hike his share of council tax,” said a spokesman for the Bailey campaign.

In opinion polls, Bailey is trailing well behind Khan. Khan held a 21-point lead in a poll last month by the Mile End Institute at Queen Mary University of London and YouGov.

The poll said Khan would win 51 per cent in the first round of voting – a result that would mean a second round of voting would not be required.