An election candidate has spoken of her disappointment after a number of her promotional boards were vandalised.
School teacher Anna Cope is standing for the Greens in the Tonbridge constituency.
She said five of her election boards had been defaced in the Yardley Park Road and Quarry Road area of town, and more in Hadlow.
A man was caught on camera defacing one of her posters at 4am on Wednesday and one in Judd Ward had been completely smashed up.
For the most part, the “Green” in Vote Green has been replaced by “Reform.”
The Greens have so far put out 200 election boards across the constituency.
Ms Cope said: “I don’t believe for a moment that the Reform UK candidate or her team are behind this vandalism, but unfortunately there are Reform UK supporters out there letting their party down and breaking electoral law.”
She said: “It’s disappointing behaviour. For a free and fair election, everyone must be able to express their views without fear of personal attack or vandalism.
“That’s the cornerstone of democracy.”
Ms Cope invited the Reform UK candidate, Teresa Hansford, to join her in taking a stance on the matter.
Kent Online asked Ms Hansford for comment, but has not yet received a response.
Ms Cope, who is also a borough councillor for Cage Green and Angel Ward on Tonbridge and Malling Council, had previously urged her fellow councillors to sign up to the Local Government Association’s Debate Not Hate campaign, saying there was too much disrespectful behaviour and too many personal attacks on public representatives, both within the council chamber and outside it, particularly on social media.
She told colleagues: “It’s fine to disagree. It’s good to debate and discuss, but it isn’t good to mock or belittle, or be impolite.”
For information about the constituency and the candidates, visit here.
The candidates for Tonbridge in the general election are: Lewis Bailey (Lab); Anna Cope (Green); Ian Grattidge (SDP); Teresa Hansford, Reform UK; Tim Shaw (Independent Alliance, Kent); Tom Tugendhat (Con) andJohn Woollcombe (Lib Dem).
