What is going on with Tory campaign leaflets?

In brief...

• Conservative Party chairman Richard Holden faced issues in Basildon and Billericay, with campaign leaflets mistakenly distributed in a neighboring constituency.
• Other campaign mishaps included Andrea Jenkyns' controversial leaflet featuring Nigel Farage and criticism for Conservative candidates using non-traditional Tory colours in their campaign materials.
• The Tory Party is currently dealing with a betting scandal involving five MPs, overshadowing other election blunders.

What's going on?

Richard Holden, the Conservative Party chairman, standing in what looked like a safe Essex seat – Basildon and Billericay – must have thought he was in for a relatively easy ride.

Not only is the poor chap facing a rise in popularity for Reform UK in the constituency, nearly 300 miles from his home, he’s also struggling to get to grips with the local postcodes.

This week, it was found that hundreds of his election campaign leaflets were distributed across Essex recently. The only problem being, they weren’t distributed across Basildon and Billericay, instead ending up on doormats in the neighbouring constituency of Rayleigh and Wickford.

What do The News Agents have to say?

Emily Maitlis described the situation as a "bit of a bad morning" for Tory chairman Holden, who had previously caused controversy with claims he had been "parachuted into a safe seat", with local party officials in Essex describing the move as a "slap in the face".

He was previously the Conservative MP for North West Durham.

"Maybe we now understand why they haven’t been targeting quite the people they’ve been going after, they’ve been spending money leafleting people who cannot vote for the person on the leaflet they’ve just received through the door," Emily Maitlis said.

"On any other day, that could be quite a big story. But when you’ve got gaffs of an epic nature - like flutter-gate, leaflet-gate just doesn’t cut it," added Jon Sopel.

He was referring to the ongoing betting scandal the Tory Party is currently facing, with five MPs currently involved in bets placed around the upcoming General Election.

Royal Mail told the BBC the leaflets, which were addressed to households in Wickford, were "delivered accordingly".

Why has Nigel Farage appeared on Conservative campaign leaflets?

But this isn't the only leaflet blunder to have happened during this year's election campaign.

Andrea Jenkins, perhaps best known to many as the Conservative MP who flicked the middle-finger at crowds outside Downing Street on the day Boris Johnson announced he was stepping down as Prime Minister, previously raised eyebrows with the content of hers.

There was no Boris on her leaflet and no Rishi. Instead, she was pictured with Nigel Farage, leader of Reform UK, as she campaigned as a Tory candidate.

Jenkyns has said she wants to "unite" the Conservatives and Reform UK to form an opposition to a likely Labour Party majority after the July election.

But rather than bringing unity, she may have instead brought her future in the Conservatives into jeopardy, as the party's code of conduct prevents "helping political opponents" or even being associated with "any other registered party". She is still, however, standing for the Conservatives for Leeds South West and Morley.

Surely there haven't been any other issues with Tory leaflets?

Some people have raised concerns about the colour scheme of some of what Tory candidates have been pushing through their letterboxes.

During the election campaign, it has been pointed out on social media that other Conservatives have distributed leaflets with surprising colour-schemes – with several avoiding the traditional Tory blue.

During a visit to Spalding, Lewis Goodall questioned the local Tory candidate, Sir John Hayes, on his leaflet and why there was no sign of Rishi Sunak on it.

"He's fighting the campaign nationally, I'm fighting locally," Hayes explained to Lewis.

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