Sunderland Conservatives issue apology over false claims about Reform UK councillor David Barker
The Sunderland Conservatives have issued a public apology over false claims made against a Reform UK candidate in an election leaflet.
The allegations were made against David Barker, who was one of three Reform UK councillors elected to the Deptford and Hendon ward in the polls.
A statement on the Sunderland Conservatives' Facebook page said the apology was linked to a leaflet produced during this year's local elections.
It said that “while not naming anyone specifically”, the leaflet “made claims about a Reform candidate’s drug use and physical abuse, that we later discovered were not true”.
The statement goes on: “Cllr David Barker, who now represents the Deptford and Hendon ward, has identified himself as the candidate in question.
“We sincerely apologise to Cllr Barker for our error and we are happy to clarify that none of the allegations made about him in that leaflet were true.”
The Sunderland Conservatives also “wished Cllr Barker and his colleagues the best now they have taken control of Sunderland City Council” and said they would “continue to co-operate with them in the best interests of Sunderland”.
A national Reform UK spokesman welcomed the apology and said the leaflet had spread “damaging and irresponsible misinformation”.
A statement published on Reform UK Sunderland's Facebook page on Thursday also described the “quietly published” apology – which was published in the early hours of the morning – as “quite the climbdown”.
The statement added: “Politics should be robust. Scrutiny should be relentless. But if you’re going to make serious allegations about somebody, checking whether they’re actually true is generally a useful place to start.”
A Reform UK spokesman said: “We welcome the Sunderland Conservatives’ apology to Cllr Barker for the damaging and irresponsible misinformation they spread about him.
“We hope they will be more cautious and check their sources carefully in the future.”
Cllr Barker received the most votes out of 15 candidates in the Deptford and Hendon wards at May’s elections.
The Conservatives, meanwhile, were wiped out at the Sunderland polls, losing all of their nine seats as Reform UK swept to power by ousting Labour.