Labour campaign leaflets thought to be malicious hoax confirmed as genuine

The double-sided campaign leaflet lists numerous achievements by Labour’s parish councillors, ahead of the local and parish elections on Thursday.

The other side of the leaflet is riddled with spelling and grammatical errors.

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Due to the number of errors, some residents raised concerns that the leaflets were fraudulent.

Cllr Joe De’Asha, St Helens Council Labour candidate for Rainhill initially suspected the leaflets were an attempt to damage the credibility of the party.

Cllr Joe De'Asha, elected member for Rainhill

On Monday St Helens Labour group’s former chief whip said he had been contacted by several concerned residents over the leaflet.

Cllr De’Asha described the spelling in the leaflet as “atrocious”, calling it a “discreet attack on the party”.

He said: “I’ve stood here for 30-odd years. We’ve had lots of leaflets during that time. We might have the odd spelling mistake, but not like this.

“These people are concerned.”

However, the Local Democracy Reporting Service has since established the leaflets are genuine.

They were written by former St Helens Council leader Barrie Grunewald, who is up for re-election for Rainhill Parish Council.

Cllr Grunewald, who suffered a series of complications following a heart attack in 2016, said the leaflets were sent to around 800 properties in the village.

However, he said some earlier drafts of the leaflet may have been mixed up with the final version in error.

Cllr Grunewald said: “It’s possible some of my early drafts got mixed up and only a small batch was delivered incorrectly, though I don’t know.”

The former council leader added that, if earlier drafts did get mixed up with the final draft, it would have been “less than 50”.

In the leaflet, Cllr Grunewald said he wanted to “set the record straight” in response to many “rumours and untruths” being told during the election campaign.

He claims “smear tactics” are being used by Labour’s opponents before attempting to debunk four “rumours and lies”.

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Cllr De’Asha said he delivered a similar leaflet to households last week in an effort to counteract numerous rumours, including claims he did not live in Rainhill.

Last month, Cllr De’Asha stepped down as chief whip of the St Helens Labour group to focus on his election campaign.

He is going up against the independent candidate, Donna Greaves and the Conservative candidate, Henry Spriggs.