A candidate being fielded by the Tories for the UK general election has been left red-faced after being filmed setting up a fake ‘spontaneous’ interview with one of his residents - who is also, crucially, one of his friends.
Lee Anderson, the Conservative candidate for Ashfield, who recently caused a stir online, after suggesting anti-social council tenants should be forced to live in tents in the field and undergo hard labor, has been caught trying to trick a journalist on the campaign trail.
Michael Crick, who is reporting for Mail+ during the election campaign, spent a day with Anderson as he canvassed his constituents - accompanied by his film crew.
After an altercation with an angry female passer-by who accuses Anderson of being a “misogynist,” the Tory candidate, presumably unaware his microphone is still on, is heard making a phone call to what turns out to be not merely a resident, but also a friend.
The incident, despite provoking much ridicule on social media, has left many unsurprised at the underhand tactics of both the candidate and party in question. A few people have made fun of Anderson and his past controversial comments around hard labor and cold showers for disobedient housing tenants.
While others online sarcastically remarked that this was evidence of a Conservative candidate really showing he’s “all heart” and there was “not a lie in sight and yes, the moon is made of cream cheese.”
Earlier this month the Conservatives created a spoof Labour manifesto website to try to communicate the “cost of [Jeremy] Corbyn.”
During a TV debate between Corbyn, the Labour leader and PM Boris Johnson, the Tories changed its Twitter account to resemble an independent fact-checking organization. It prompted accusations that they were deliberately misleading the British public by orchestrating such action, and also backlash from Twitter itself.
At the beginning of the election campaign the party doctored a video of Shadow Brexit Secretary Keir Starmer for its social media, to make out that he had no answer to a question on Brexit in a TV interview, when in reality he did.