Political Tricks or Mindless Vandalism?

13th April 2010

Political dirty tricks or mindless vandalism?

Conservative parliamentary hopeful, Gordon Henderson, has hit out at unknown vandals who have destroyed two of his election signs.

The signs, which were part of an impressive visual display which stretch across the Sittingbourne and Sheppey constituency, were sited at the bottom of Stockers Hill in Rodmersham.

Mr Henderson said:

 “I don’t know whether the destruction of my signs is part of a wider political dirty tricks campaign, or simply the result of mindless vandalism.

“Our opponents have been known to demolish Conservative posters in the past, but I thought such practices had been consigned to the political dustbin. I thought we lived in more enlightened times where we acknowledge the right of our opponents to get their message across in whatever lawful way they choose.

“If this was a political act then I would be very surprised if any of the rival candidates themselves were involved, however, I very much hope that they will take this opportunity to issue a stern warning to their more exuberant supporters that vandalising the posters of opponents is a criminal offence and has no place in a democracy.

“Of course, it could be simply mindless vandalism, which in itself is a sad reflection of the levels of anti-social behaviour that blight some of our communities.

“Unfortunately the signs are beyond repair and are too expensive to replace. However, we are not going to be bullied out of getting our message across in the Rodmersham area, so we will move a couple of signs from another location to replace the damaged ones.”