Residents condemn Kettering Green Party for lockdown leafleting
We are disappointed to have received complaints from residents this week about the local Green Party, who have been been out hand delivering political material during lockdown.
This is despite very clear guidance from HM Government, Police and public health officials that political leafleting "is NOT in the spirit" of the lockdown rules. The Government’s advice on political leafleting is as follows:
Current national lockdown restrictions in England, say: “You must not leave, or be outside of your home except where necessary”. The Government’s view is that these restrictions do not support door to door campaigning or leafleting by individual political party activists. It is widely accepted that voters can continue to get campaigning information remotely. In order to reduce transmission of Covid-19 infection, door to door campaigning at this point in time is therefore not considered essential or necessary activity.
Northamptonshire's Director of Public Health, Lucy Wightman, has also been very clear:
We're clear both from a public health and a policing perspective that this activity, whilst not technically breaking the law, was not in the spirit of lockdown.
Kettering Constituency Conservatives are fully abiding by national guidance and have suspended all canvassing and leafleting until further notice, as have other political parties such as Labour. The instruction is very simple: Stay at Home, Protect the NHS, Save Lives and delivering political material is not a reasonable excuse to be out.
The general public look to local political parties and activists to set a good example, and the total disregard that the local Green Party have shown for regulations designed to keep us all safe is not only disrespectful to residents but also deeply unfair to other political parties that are abiding by the rules. It is not the behaviour that residents expect from those aspiring to serve as elected representatives.
We call on the local Green Party to immediately cease their distribution of political material, and to apologise to local residents for showing such disregard towards public health and Covid-19 regulations.
