Lib Dem mayoral candidate mistakenly billed as Labour hopeful

Lib-Dem mayoral hopeful Beverley Nielsen said she was sure the local campaign group would have been "as shocked as I was" by the mistake

A Lib Dem mayoral candidate was mistakenly billed in campaign material as standing for Labour.

Households were sent a leaflet giving "three reasons to back Beverley Nielsen for West Midlands Labour mayor".

One reason not to do so would be that Ms Nielsen was actually standing for the Liberal Democrats.

A campaign spokesman said the leaflet had been created by the local party - the Hall Green group.

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Ms Nielsen said: "This leaflet was home published by a volunteer, not professionally published. It's clearly a mistake that is embarrassing to the person who made it, so we're not going to investigate further or name and shame.

"Our mayoral campaign relies heavily on volunteers and doesn't have the luxury of the big budget funding that some of the other candidates have, so I'm very grateful that supporters are contributing their time and effort in the Lib Dem fight back."

Other candidates include Graham Stevenson (Communist Party), Andy Street (Conservatives), James Burn (Green), Sion Simon (Labour) and Pete Durnell (UKIP).

They are bidding to become the first elected mayor of the West Midlands, leading the Combined Authority.

The polls open on 4 May.