Conservative candidate for Tooting Council, Otto Jacobsson, has taken on a novel approach to his campaign strategy. Instead of actually endorsing his party, he has been handing out letters urging people not to vote at all in the upcoming council by-election, writing: “You can go on temporary strike, withholding your vote.” In a rather defeatist attitude, he explains that although “the by-election can’t change who runs the council,” the voting strike “can easily change Labour’s attitude.” He doesn’t mention the fact he’s running for the Conservatives…

At least Jacobsson clarifies that he is “not another Labour careerist“. Though judging by the “Freedom for Tooting” strap, a nod to the 1970’s sitcom Citizen Smith that stars a Marxist character, he may be more than that. Communist infiltration can happen anywhere, and at all levels…