Conservatives attacked for sending leaflets featuring quotes from The Sun to Merseyside homes

Mayor of Liverpool accuses Tories of being 'out of touch' after leaflets distributed in Wirral South feature headlines from paper widely reviled for its coverage Hillsborough disaster coverage

Conservative Party leaflets distributed in Wirral South, Merseyside, feature headlines from The Sun, which has been widely boycotted in the region since its coverage of the Hillsborough disaster in 1989

The Conservative Party has come under attack for distributing leaflets featuring quotes from The Sun newspaper to homes in Merseyside.

The Mayor of Liverpool accused the Tories of being “out of touch” after leaflets distributed in Wirral South featured headlines from the tabloid, which has been widely boycotted in the region because of its coverage of the Hillsborough disaster in 1989.

The Conservative candidate for the constituency, Dr Adam Sykes, apologised for the leaflets, blaming national party officials for allowing their distribution. Tory party headquarters in London declined to comment.

Labour MP Alison McGovern won the Wirral South seat in the 2015 general election with 48 per cent of the vote share, 11 percentage points ahead of Dr Sykes.

The leaflets include anti-Labour headlines from The Sun including “Sky-high immigration would continue for years under Jeremy Corbyn – the Labour leader signalled today,” and “Jeremy Corbyn ‘bragged about blocking terror laws'”.

Liverpool Mayor Joe Anderson told The Independent there had been a number of complaints about the leaflets, adding that it showed the Tories were "completely out of touch" with people in the region.

“There have been a number of people complaining to us about it. There’s been a lot of reaction — it’s a real shot in the foot for the Tories, particularly in a marginal seat," Mr Anderson said.

“I’m really surprised they’ve done this when The Sun is so reviled in Liverpool and the region. I initially thought it was fake news — but it’s a genuine campaign leaflet.

“People are incensed and angry about it. The Tories are clearly completely out of touch with the people here. It’s a massive cock-up on their part.”

Ben McKay, a 17-year-old resident of Wirral South, said he set fire to the leaflet when it appeared on his doorstep.

Speaking to The Independent, Mr McKay said: “[The Tories] are absolutely clueless. They clearly don't know or care about people’s views in our area.

“They haven't done anything but post a few flyers trying to down talk Corbyn while he actually visits west Kirby and turns up at a Wirral live music event to do a speech.

“It’s completely insensitive considering the amount of people from the Wirral who are football fans and have relatives that could have been at Hillsborough. Imagine if I was a Liverpool supporter who lost a family member there.

“It would kill me to have to pick that up and see quotes from the paper that lied about the deaths of innocent people.”

Ms McKay added that while he is unable to vote this time round due to his age, he had put a “Vote Labour” poster in his window, adding: “Hopefully [the Tories] stay away from our house now.”

Dr Sykes apologised for the leaflets on Twitter, claiming in response to a tweet by Mr Anderson that the local Conservatives were not responsible for their distribution and that he had made a complaint to Tory head office.

“Having voted in support of The Total Eclipse of The S*n campaign, I can only apologise for the oversight of our national campaign,” he tweeted.

“Some campaigning is national and some is local, this was not the local Conservatives, they have been told about this issue.

“We have complained about this going out. We are out working hard and don't need this sort of rubbish happening."

A widespread boycott of The Sun newspaper has been in place across Merseyside for more than 25 years in protest at the paper’s coverage of the Hillsborough stadium disaster, in which 96 people died.

In an infamous article headlined 'The Truth', The Sun incorrectly reported that Liverpool fans had pickpocketed dead bodies, urinated on police, and prevented officers from attempting to resuscitate injured people.

Liverpool councillors last year unanimously backed a motion calling on retailers in the city to stop selling the tabloid, condemning it for publishing “blatant lies”.

When approached by The Independent for a comment about the leaflets, the Conservative Party declined to comment.