THE Scottish Liberal Democrats have been branded “shameless” for distributing inaccurate fliers in an Edinburgh ward slamming the city council.
Leaflets posted through doors in the Colinton/Fairmilehead area of the Scottish capital blatantly stating false information left voters in disbelief.
By-elections for the ward are due to take place on November 14, and the party seemed to take the opportunity during campaigning for candidate Louise Spence to get a sly – but incorrect – dig in at the SNP.
The leaflets spoke of how the SNP have made “terrible decisions on Edinburgh Council” – despite the city council actually having a minority Labour administration.
The leaflets showed text reading, “The Lib Dems are challenging the SNP” alongside a bar chart showing the party in second place to the SNP.
More text on the bottom of the chart claims to show the current political make-up of Edinburgh City Council.
Yet more text reads: “In my time as councillor I’ve seen the SNP make terrible decisions on Edinburgh Council.
“This year SNP councillors voted to halve the money for fixing local roads and pavements.
“Before that, they cut vital funding for schools and local policing. They even wanted to double council tax on homes across Colinton and Fairmilehead.”
However, some eagle-eyed locals were quick to point out that the chart and the text showed some glaring inaccuracies.
For starters residents pointed out that Edinburgh City Council is not run by the SNP and instead boasts the minority Labour administration.
Secondly the Lib Dems bar chart, which appears to show them in second place behind the SNP in the ward in 2022 is also incorrect.
In the 2022 City of Edinburgh Council election, the Lib Dems came fourth in the Colinton/Fairmilehead ward and the SNP actually only came third, with Scottish Labour coming up trumps and the Scottish Conservatives placing second.
The bar chart is thus drastically inaccurate, with Labour placing last in a chart supposedly representing “the current makeup of Edinburgh Council”.
After locals spotted the errors, a snap of the leaflet was shared to social media on Wednesday with the caption: “Shameless by-election leaflet from the Lib Dems in the Colinton/Fairmilehead ward.
“The SNP don’t run Edinburgh Council, and the bar chart is also bizarre. They came fourth in 2022.”
The image of the flyers has since received over 100 likes and more than 25 comments from bemused Scots.
One wrote: “This is standard practice for the Lib Dems, Paul, and has been for years with no-one calling them out. Good that you are highlighting it.”
Another added: “The SNP is filth. I would support any party that opposes them.”
A third claimed: “Typical Unionist party lies.”
Another said: “Excellent demonstration of the undemocratic system which allows the unionist uniparty to cheat its way into office.”
