Romford Tories complain over Rosindell posters

Billboards on the site of the Conservatives' Romford headquarters featuring local MP Andrew Rosindell who defected from the Conservatives to Reform, have prompted a formal complaint to the Electoral Commission.

The local Conservatives say they had asked him to take the adverts down after he defected to Reform in January and they lodged the complaint with the elections body on Tuesday.

The local Tories claim the billboards are "misleading election communications" as they promote Andrew Rosindell MP along with "Vote Conservative".

A Reform UK spokesperson said: "This is a bizarre claim and a sign that the Conservatives are losing touch with reality."

Romford Conservatives say they have asked Rosindell to remove the signs but claim he has refused to do so, and that he has threatened legal action against those who have attempted to remove them.

In March, Rosindell lost a High Court bid to be let back into his old constituency office, called Margaret Thatcher House, after being locked out following his defection.

Romford Conservatives say the signs are in breach of the Representation of the People Act 1983 as "being by the Conservatives without official consent from the Conservative Party".

Dominic Swan, chairman of the Romford Conservative Association (RCA), said: "We've been left with no choice. Andrew Rosindell and Reform UK have ignored every request to remove these signs, threatened anyone who's tried to take them down, and is now attempting to fight a local election on a false prospectus.

"Voters going to the polls deserve to know the truth: he is not a Conservative, and his candidates are not Conservative candidates. We're just sick of this farce."

A Reform UK spokesman said: "There is no incentive whatsoever for us to present ourselves as Conservatives - if anything, that would only harm our chances given how toxic the Conservative brand is in Romford and across the United Kingdom.

"Our campaign has been entirely focused on representing local residents and putting Havering first."

Rosindell, who has represented Romford in east London since 2001, was locked out of the constituency office he had occupied at Margaret Thatcher House after he announced his defection to Reform UK.

The MP began legal proceedings against the RCA, which runs the building, with his lawyers telling a hearing it had "taken the law into its own hands".

The RCA opposed the bid, with its barristers stating it was "blindingly obvious" that Rosindell's licence to use the premises only applied when he was a Tory.

In March, Mr Justice Choudhury refused the injunction bid, stating Mr Rosindell's case was "intrinsically weak" and that he "ought to have realised that he had surrendered his right to occupy" his office.

He said: "It would have been obvious to him from the moment of defecting that continued occupation would be unsustainable."

Havering Residents Association, the Green Party, the Liberal Democrats and the Labour Party are contesting seats alongside The Conservatives, Reform UK and independent candidates in the elections for Havering Borough Council on Thursday.

A full list of candidates can be found here.

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