CORNWALL Green Party says Reform UK is exploiting a loophole in electoral law to spend way beyond the allowable limit on the by-election in Newquay Porth and Tretherras.

A by-election has been called for the Cornwall Council division on April 23 following the death in February of its previous incumbent, Cllr Kevin Towill, who joined Reform UK after jumping ship from the Conservatives last year.

In the past two weeks, voters in Newquay Porth and Tretherras have received at least two letters from Reform headquarters in London which Cornwall Green Party says are clearly designed to influence the vote at the upcoming local election.

One of these communications is a “personally” addressed letter from Nigel Farage, while they say another is entirely devoted to attacking Green Party leader Zack Polanski.

Abigail Hubbucks, the Green Party’s candidate at the by-election, said: “Each of these letters will have cost at least a pound to produce and deliver.

“The maximum allowable spending for candidates at this election is £1,400. Given the number of voters who have now received these letters, it’s clear that Reform has spent several thousand pounds on this brazen attempt to influence the local election result.

“It speaks volumes about the honesty of Reform that they are using such techniques to bypass the laws that protect the integrity of local elections, but it’s also interesting Reform clearly sees the Green Party as the main challenger at this election. They’re right about that, at least.”

Tom Scott, co-coordinator of Cornwall Green Party, said: “Reform has very deep pockets, having taken £12-million over the past two years in donations from Chrstopher Harborne, a Thailand-based billionaire who made his money in cryptocurrency, fossil fuels and armaments.

“Offshore billionaires like Harborne care not a jot about the people of Newquay, but they’re no doubt quite happy to see their money used to influence people here to vote for a party that represents the interests of the ultra-wealthy.

“Reform have used the same tactics in previous local elections and think they can get away with this because of a loophole in electoral law. Unfortunately, they’re probably right.”

Representatives from Reform UK, both nationally and locally, have been asked if they would care to respond to the Green Party’s concerns, but as yet no one has replied.

The candidates for the Newquay Porth and Tretherras by-election are:

For more details on how to vote in the Newquay by-election next month, see Cornwall Council’s election page.