Just a day after it was revealed one councillor had spelt his own ward’s name wrong in a campaign leaflet, another council hopeful has made the same mistake.
Rae Voller, who is standing for the Green Party in Seacombe, Wirral, spelt the ward’s name ‘Secombe’ in one of her leaflets. While it is important to note she has spelt it correctly in other parts of the leaflet, it is another spelling blunder from one of those hoping to be elected to Wirral Council on May 5.
Cllr Pat Cleary, leader of the Green group on Wirral Council, said he was very sorry the mistake had been made. He added that the competence of Ms Voller as a candidate should be measured by the work she does for the local community all year round, rather than a spelling mistake on a leaflet.
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Asked what they thought about the gaffe on the Facebook page Wirral Gossip Original, one person said: “This smacks of someone who doesn’t give much thought to attention to detail. If this person wishes to be in local government, signing and voting on issues, and can’t proofread her own campaign material, what would she miss on important local matters?”
While another person said: “Any spelling mistakes and/or grammatical errors detract from the message. It doesn’t matter whether it is an election leaflet, a newspaper article or a social media post. If you want to be taken seriously, get it right first time and every time.”
However, many people did not think the spelling error was so serious and mentioned other political issues. One person said: “Who cares? People can't afford to pay gas and electric bills and not one single MP will do sod all about it.”
While another person said: “It will not affect my vote. Maybe focus on what she's been doing in the local area and the positive impact rather than this.” A further member of the group added: “Never underestimate someone’s ability due to how they write or spell.
“Look at parliament, all well educated and constantly messing up. No one knows anyone’s abilities unless they are given a chance.
“I was in and out of children's homes and moving lots, I never had stable schooling. But on life skills I’m sure I could probably top theirs. Don’t underestimate anyone's abilities.”
Yesterday, the ECHO reported that Cllr Tony Cox, who represents Hoylake and Meols for the Conservatives, said he will “work to return an amenity beach to Holake” in a leaflet. Defending Cllr Cox, leader of the Conservatives on Wirral Council, Cllr Tom Anderson said his colleague’s error was “unfortunate”.
But he said the “appalling” state of Hoylake beach is down to the fact that Labour and Green councillors have consistently voted together to prevent any kind of beach maintenance taking place. On the other hand, Conservative councillors have continually argued for the beach to be maintained at every opportunity, and will continue to do so, because their local surveys tell them this is what the majority of Hoylake residents want.
Commenting on the spelling error in Ms Voller’s leaflet, Cllr Cleary said: “We got it wrong, these things happen in the heat of tight election campaign deadlines where people are working 24/7. We are very sorry we’ve made the mistake.
“We are getting tremendous support on the doorstep in Seacombe and it’s going to be a very interesting ward to watch on election day. It’s not coming up on the doorstep, you can’t spell or whatever.
“But apathy does come up on the doorstep. I’ve never known frustration as acute as it is at the moment. People feel politicians are not working for them and in Seacombe people feel very neglected.”
Cllr Cleary added: “We’ve put out lots of literature in Seacombe going back to the summer. It’s not been a six-week campaign, but a 12-month campaign.
“This is the first time we’ve got a spelling wrong and people have had 12-15 leaflets over the course of a year. The competence of our candidate should be measured by the work she does for the local community all year round, rather than a spelling mistake on a leaflet, and people acknowledge that and are thinking of supporting her for it."
All the candidates standing in Seacombe on May 5:
- Bobby Cartwright (Conservative)
- John Hoey (Labour)
- Anthony Morris (Liberal Democrat)
- Rae Voller (Green)
