Election leaflets distance 'Local Conservatives' from Boris Johnson

[muriel_volestrangler]

Election leaflets seen by the Guardian show local candidates across England playing down their Tory affiliations, eschewing pictures of Johnson and styling themselves as “Local Conservative” on voting ballot papers.

Conservative central office registered “Local Conservative” as an alternative title in early 2019, when Theresa May’s unpopularity was at its height. It is being widely used in this week’s polls as Conservatives weigh up the electoral costs of the Partygate scandal.
...
A leaflet for Keith Rowe, in Birmingham Northfield, carries a picture of the label “Local Conservative” as it will appear on the ballot paper, and the claim: “This is a straight fight between Keith and an unknown Labour candidate.”

In Newcastle-under-Lyme, Conservative leaflets emphasise: “This election is about local issues, not national issues.”

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/may/04/election-leaflets-distance-local-conservatives-from-boris-johnson

The Tory candidate for my borough council hasn't used 'Local'. She hasn't used 'Conservative' either, apart from the (I guess legally-required) smallest print possible of "promoted by ... and printed by WCA, of The Conservative Office, ..." (WCA being the Winchester Conservative Association , the party that Dare Not Speak Its Name, but found it's in its postal address). The other Conservatives running for the Parish Council are just "our Parish Team". At least the leaflet is printed on light blue paper, so there was still a vague clue who it was from. No naming of the local Tory MP either, though he is in a couple of the photos.

So I hope this means they're getting a lot of "we can't trust Tory bastards" on the doorstep.