Tag Archives: oldham east and saddleworth

Phil Woolas election case: follow the online coverage

By Mark Pack | Sun 12th September 2010 - 8:45 pm

Monday sees the start of a court case against Labour MP Phil Woolas alleging false statements were made about his Liberal Democrat opponent, Elwyn Watkins, during the general election earlier this year.

The case will involve a court judging on how far it is acceptable to go in very robust election literature and involves the rarely used provision in Section 106 of the 1983 Representation of the People Act which covers false statements about candidates:

(1) A person who, or any director of any body or association corporate which—
(a) before or during an election,
(b) for the purpose of affecting the return of

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Phil Woolas’ future as an MP to be decided “before Parliament reassembles”

By Helen Duffett | Wed 21st July 2010 - 5:44 pm

A High Court judge has ruled that an election court should sit in the Oldham East and Saddleworth constituency on 13 September, to decide whether Phil Woolas can continue as an MP.

As we reported last month, Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate Elwyn Watkins is challenging the result of the election in Oldham, alleging a breach of the Representation of the People Act (1983). Mr Watkins claims that literature distributed by the Labour party “contained numerous misleading and erroneous claims” regarding his personal character and reputation, and that of his campaign.

Today the BBC reports:

Two High Court Judges will travel

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Posted in Election law | Also tagged elwyn watkins and phil woolas | 4 Comments

Election court agrees to examine Oldham East slur leaflet

By Helen Duffett | Wed 30th June 2010 - 9:23 pm

As we reported last month the Liberal Democrat candidate for Oldham East and Saddleworth was petitioning for a hearing of an election court, alleging a breach of the Representation of the People Act (1983).

The BBC now reports:

A court is to examine claims that a Labour Party election leaflet from former minister Phil Woolas linked an opponent to Muslim “extremists”.

An election court has agreed to hear the case brought by Liberal Democrat candidate Elwyn Watkins.

He claims Labour falsely portrayed him as taking “illegal” foreign donations.

The court could order a fresh election in the Oldham East and Saddleworth

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Posted in Election law | Also tagged elwyn watkins, phil woolas and representation of the people act 1983 | 4 Comments

Trevor Phillips describes Phil Woolas leaflets as ‘not helpful’

By Sara Bedford | Tue 8th June 2010 - 1:09 pm

Last week, Lib Dem Voice commented on Lib Dem candidate Elwyn Watkins’ election petition against Oldham East and Saddleworth’s Labour MP, Phil Woolas. Watkins, who lost to Woolas by just 103 votes, believes that false claims were made in the leaflets, including allegations that he was trying to woo Muslim extremists, and claims about the financing of his campaign by a wealthy Saudi businessman.

Now the Chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission has entered the row about the literature published on behalf of Woolas during the general election campaign. Former Labour politician Trevor Phillips described some of the language used in the party’s leaflets here as ‘not helpful’.

Posted in News | Also tagged elwyn watkins, howard sykes, phil woolas and trevor phillips | 3 Comments

Oldham election result heading to court

By Mark Pack | Sun 6th June 2010 - 7:50 pm

As we reported last month, the election result in Oldham East and Saddleworth – where Labour’s Phil Woolas hung on by just 103 votes – has triggered complaints from the Liberal Democrat candidate, Elwyn Watkins, that Labour’s campaign broke the law.

The case is now heading to the courts. As the BBC reports,

In the last few days of the campaign, Labour put out a small newspaper which was predominantly an attack on their Liberal Democrat opponent, Elwyn Watkins.

Mr Watkins believes the leaflet falsely portrayed him as a politician courting votes from militant Muslims; not a group known to be particularly

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Posted in Election law | Also tagged elwyn watkins, phil woolas and representation of the people act 1983 | 15 Comments