Kangaroo leaflet leaves villagers hopping mad

A controversial election leaflet put out by Labour councillors at Culcheth, Croft and Glazebury, Warrington, accusing their Tory rival of being a “Kangaroo candidate” has left some villagers hopping mad!
The leaflet, designed as a board game, is urging residents of Culcheth, Croft and Glazebury to back local Labour candidate Matt Smith, (pictured right) over Tory rival Paul Campbell.
But the leaflet has sparked outrage on social media networks and angered local residents, including local businessman Paul Taylor from Taylor Business Park.
Mr Taylor said:”It pains me to say this as I have a great working relationship with just about every parish councillor in Culcheth, Croft and Glazebury but there have been some appalling things that have been pushed through our doors recently and I’m not talking about the usual UKIP or BNP flyers. You expect those to be dusted with more than their fair share of craziness.
“In the last local election campaign it was apparent that one of the parties started to try to take a line of personally attacking other candidates, in an almost American electioneering style. With the other parties not rising to their taunts and rhetoric they seem to have gone gung-ho this year to the point where it looks like they’re now making stuff up and printing it, and doing so in quite a personal and offensive manner.
“We shouldn’t tolerate this sort of thing and we should be telling those who are doing it to “stop” which is why I’m saying this.
“No matter how we all decide we will vote I’m sure we don’t want any of our candidates involved in this sort of muck throwing.
“If they all started to do it the parish councils would descend into chaos.
“What especially annoys me is that I’ve worked with all of these councillors that are being spoken about and with the ones doing the name calling and they all do a heck lot for our community. All this sort of thing does is throw a spanner into the works.
“Local politics is an entirely different animal to national politics. After the dust has settled and the votes have been counted these people all have to sit around the same table and try and help us all with issues in the village.
“When they spend months winding each other up and then business resumes as normal you could cut the atmosphere with a knife, at this point the only people that lose out are us, the people who vote and pay our council tax in the village because they’re threatening the goodwill and stability that exists across all three parish councils.
“This sort of finger pointing and what can only be described as childish, point-winning behaviour especially when it looks like most of the things this particular party is claiming credit for in their leaflets were done by the parish council as a whole or on some occasions should actually be accredited to the borough council and highways departments.
“Anyone thinking of going into local politics in the future please, please bear in mind:
“We don’t want to know what you think of the other candidates.
“We don’t want you to tell us what to think of the other candidates.
“We don’t want to know how many letters you’ve sent. We can send letters.
“We want to know what you are going to do in the future, for the village and how you’re going to do it.
“Cllr Campbell (pictured left) said: ” I have been contacted by many residents who are angry at the tone of this latest leaflet.
“For myself I can only say this is the type of comment we have come to expect from the local Labour group, where character assassination is the norm instead of fighting elections purely on the issues that matter to local people.
“They do a great disservice not only to their party and myself but to the many local resident who expect more from their politicians.”
When contacted about the leaflet, borough and parish councillor Chris Vobe, who has actively been helping Cllr Smith on the election campaign, said: “Neither Matt nor myself would wish to make any comment about any election material, issued either by the Labour Party or other political parties.”
To see the leaflet CLICK HERE