A Wirral councillor has spelled the name of the town he represents incorrectly in a leaflet for the upcoming local elections.
In the first of a series of pledges to voters printed on the leaflet Cllr Tony Cox, who represents Hoylake and Meols for the Conservatives on Wirral Council, said he would “work to return an amenity beach to Holake.” Cllr Cox, along with his fellow Conservative councillors in the ward, wants Wirral Council to rake Hoylake beach to remove grass and restore ‘golden sands’.
Since 2019, when Wirral Council stopped all maintenance of the beach after it was slated for spraying it with glyphosate, a passionate local debate has opened up. Local Conservative councillors have sided with the sandy beach argument, while Labour has favoured a natural beach.
READ MORE: Fury over campaign group's 'what is a woman?' post in beach row
The beach is seen as a highly important issue in this year’s council race for the Hoylake and Meols seat. Cllr Tom Anderson, who leads the Conservative group on the council, said his colleague’s error was “unfortunate” but wanted to focus on the issue of the beach itself.
Cllr Anderson said: “I would like to take this opportunity to thank all our Conservative supporters who, throughout the year, have delivered thousands of pieces of literature across Wirral detailing the achievements secured by Conservative councillors here in Wirral. This includes a Local Plan that protects our green belt with only brownfield sites listed for development, the opportunity for communities to secure the future of local assets, including libraries, through the revamped Community Asset Transfer policy [and] improved maintenance of our parks and green spaces following Labour’s abandonment of many of these areas last year.
“The typo error in this leaflet is unfortunate, but let us not forget 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. 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.
“The choice in May’s election is clear, only Tony Cox has a proven track record in fighting for Hoylake beach to be maintained, a vote for anyone else will see Hoylake’s golden sands lost forever.” Labour’s candidate in the seat, David Sindall, said: “From what I’ve heard on the doorstep during this election, Tony Cox has been a lot like the ‘y’ in Hoylake on his leaflet: at best invisible, at worst missing altogether.”
Full list of candidates standing in Hoylake and Meols in the May 5 local elections:
- John Ellis (Independent)
- Tony Cox (Conservatives)
- David Sindall (Labour)
- Alix Cockcroft (Green Party)
- Peter Reisdorf (Liberal Democrats)
