Don’t disguise your leaflet as a newspaper
Believe it or not - a Liberal Democrat leaflet
This 4 page newspaper-style leaflet was distributed in Kingston and Surbiton constituency by Ed Davey's team. The only way you would know it was from the Liberal Democrats was by the tiny imprint at the bottom of the back page.
Look what we’ve got here, a free copy of the local newsp… oh. Wait a second. It’s a leaflet. Stop trying to trick us!
The newspaper-leaflet has become a common electoral trope of late. In fact, during last year’s council elections, Conservatives in Haringey adopted a rather recognisable design for theirs.
PLEASE get yourself a decent spellchecker
We get it. We really do. Typos, misspelling, grammatical errors... they happen. But, frankly, we could fill an entire article with examples of these.
There’s the classic “oops I spelt my constituency wrong”:
so much faith in a man that can spell my constituency right on his promo leaflet 😂👌 #Labour pic.twitter.com/cULmqzP98J
— Hattie Grew (@HattieGrew) April 13, 2015
@ScotTories Why not learn to spell the constituency name if you want to represent us (FYI it's Loudoun). #GE15 pic.twitter.com/if8Q9mvbpu
— Margaret Young (@penguinos99) April 16, 2015
And then there are those who get it so wrong, constituents feel compelled to take out their big red correcting pen.
UKIP never fail to impress... (a leaflet marked by an English teacher in Frome) pic.twitter.com/k5KE9wItRt
— Leanne Bisatt (@leanne_bisatt) April 17, 2015
English teacher Suzy Howlett, who corrected this leaflet from Ukip candidate Derek Tanswell, told The Mirror: “I teach children who speak English as an Additional Language, and some of them could teach Mr Tanswell a thing or two!”
Good to see that Labour ran their leaflet through a spellchecker before sending it out... pic.twitter.com/EEQce2eoOf
— David McNay (@DPMcNay) April 9, 2015
This is just getting out of hand. We demand a spelltervention. Or an electoral Spelling Bee of some sort.
The candidate’s name is quite important
Unless your name is actually Name Surname, in which case, we apologise profusely.
My local Tory candidate's leaflet came today. I certainly will vote for a candidate with a name AND a surname. pic.twitter.com/5yDm9rYi0c
— William Nicholson (@willnich) April 22, 2015
...but bear in mind your name may be used as fodder against you
Poor Matthew Hancock. Fold lines are not your friend.
Unfortunate fold in Tory Matthew Hancock's election leaflet for West Suffolk pic.twitter.com/KGSmwq2yQL
— Nick da Costa (@nick_dacosta) April 17, 2015
This goes for political signage too.
I'm not a huge fan of them either, Simon, but isn't that a bit extreme? pic.twitter.com/6qbtMyf6Iz
— Scott Hoad (@ScottHoad) April 18, 2015
It may be worth trying your local leaflet printing company
It’s tough to claim you’ll support local businesses when your leaflets are printed elsewhere.
Andrew George's False Promises
As you may be able to see. Andrew George represents West Cornwall and the Scilly Isles. One of his on-going promises has been to support local business. However, whilst his election leaflet has at least been designed in his constituency, it has been printed in SOMERSET.
Stop with the “this party can’t win here” charts
Splitting the vote
'Only the Conservatives can stop Labour', screams the leaflet received from the Tory candidate for Hall Green, citing a national YouGov poll and imploring constituents to vote Conservative.
'Only the Lib Dems can beat Labour in the Hall Green constituency', cries the leaflet received on the same day from the Liberal Democrat candidate, citing the result of the constituency's vote in the 2010 election.
Perhaps they should go into coalition?
Tactical voting is a thing, we’re well aware. Can we just call an end to the “THIS PARTY CAN’T WIN HERE” trope now? These charts are far from helpful.
Choose your font with care
Expecting Labour's next leaflet to be written in comic sans. pic.twitter.com/VILzOSZfTF
— alexmassie (@alexmassie) April 14, 2015
Lest you, horror of horrors, get the mickey taken out of you on Twitter.
What kind of leaflets have been doing the rounds in your constituency? Let us know via GuardianWitness. Just click the blue “contribute” button to get involved.
