Liberal Democrats arrested for election offences

The leaflet was delivered in Harrogate

Two Liberal Democrat campaigners have been arrested on suspicion of election offences after an incident involving a leaflet.

North Yorkshire Police are investigating the party members in Harrogate after campaign material wrongly claimed the Green Party were not contesting a by-election.

The North Yorkshire Council poll for the Stray, Woodlands and Hookstone ward took place in March after former Liberal Democrat Pat Marsh resigned.

A leaflet distributed to households said the Greens had '"stood down" when they had actually fielded a candidate. The Liberal Democrats blamed the misinformation on a "printing mistake".

The missive urged residents to submit their postal votes before the deadline and described the race for the council seat as being between the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives.

It said Labour “came a distant third last time” and “the Green’s (sic) have stood down this election”.

The by-election was won in April by Lib Dem Andrew Timothy with 1,094 votes. He beat Tory candidate John Ennis with 768 votes. Gilly Charters represented the Greens and won 376 votes.

The Greens submitted a formal complaint to the police.

In an update today to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, (LDRS), North Yorkshire Police confirmed that two men were arrested on Tuesday. They were released while inquiries continue.

A police spokesperson said: “A man aged in his 60s and a man aged in his 20s, both from the Harrogate area, were arrested on Tuesday 4 June 2024 in connection with an ongoing local election-related investigation.

“Following questioning, they have been released under investigation while inquiries continue.”

A spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats confirmed to the LDRS that the arrests were related to the by-election leaflet.

A party spokesperson said: “This relates to a printing mistake during a local council by-election early this year, which we explained at the time.”