A Full Fact investigation has revealed that political parties in England are distributing election leaflets containing misleading, unsourced, or cherry-picked data to influence tactical voting, raising concerns about the erosion of democratic trust.
A Full Fact investigation for the Guardian has found that election leaflets across England are making "grotesque" misleading claims about tactical voting using unreliable data, dodgy bar charts and national polling to suggest certain parties cannot win locally. Analysis of 331 leaflets from the first two weeks of April found 59 contained charts or graphics, with 14 being unsourced, misleading or failing to provide reliable evidence. Examples from Labour, Conservatives, Liberal Democrats, Greens and Reform were flagged. Former YouGov chair Peter Kellner said spurious claims backed by unreliable data were becoming increasingly common, warning such practices were "bad for democracy".
