Co-conspirators have supplied Guido with exclusive recordings from Hope Not Hate’s ground campaign up in Rochdale. There are some revelations…
The Hope Not Hate lead organiser admits that he is also a Labour campaigner and is pushing to get a “good, solid majority” for Labour candidate Paul Waugh in Rochdale via the Hope Not Hate campaign. The organiser says that the group is targeting anyone likely to vote against George Galloway to convince them to vote for anyone else:
“We’re just trying to get anyone who’s not likely to vote Galloway. We want to make sure they vote.”
The charity, which has received taxpayer funds, previously getting cash from taxpayer-supported Paul Hamlyn Foundation (PHF) and City Hall, has deep and wide links to the Labour Party. As Guido revealed during HNH’s coincidental anti-Susan Hall campaign…
Hope Not Hate’s ground campaigners also go into some detail about the MRP polling which they bought for the constituency, which allows them to accurately target voters who they can mobilise. They say it’s “not very cheap“. The last time Guido checked, MRP constituency polling cost around £20,000. Even if they got a discount, it’s unlikely they dragged the cost below the £700 spending limit. In which case Hope Not Hate would be falling foul of clear Electoral Commission rules…
UPDATE: Guido is told the voice heard in the recording is an activist, not the official “lead organiser”.
In Henry Mance’s piece today for the FT, lunching with Nigel Farage:
“Splendido!” Farage says, when the drinks arrive; I suppose it’s a step to European reconciliation. We clink glasses, and he lights the first of two back-to-back Benson & Hedges. A few minutes later, we’re back downstairs. “Are you drinking? Good.” He orders a glass of Sauvignon blanc for each of us — not a bottle, “because it’s Lent” — followed by a bottle of claret, to have with our meal. They say Farage drinks less than he used to. They say a lot of things.”