Pro-hunting campaign fronted by Otis Ferry props up Tories in north-west England

Vote-OK is helping sympathetic Conservative MPs and election candidates to get elected by leafleting, putting up posters and canvassing

Tom Bawden
Friday 27 March 2015 22:17 GMT
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A pro-hunting campaign fronted by Otis Ferry is taking its battle to the north of England as its volunteers promote two Conservative candidates in the Blackburn area on the understanding that they will vote to repeal the hunting ban.

The Independent reported this month that Vote-OK is helping sympathetic Conservative MPs and election candidates to get elected by leafleting, putting up posters and canvassing.

We can now reveal that David Nuttall, the MP for Bury North, and Rob Loughenbury, the Conservative candidate for Chorley, are making use of the group’s services – in this case through the Holcombe Hunt. The hunt, in the Greater Manchester village of Holcombe, is one of the oldest in the country, dating back to 1086.

Rajen Dalal, the Holcombe member charged by the hunt masters with co-ordinating its contribution to the Vote-OK campaign, said: “It is vitally important that hunts across the country support those candidates whose election to Parliament in the May general election will help in repealing the ill-considered and unworkable Hunting Act and support those many people who participate in and engage in country pursuits.”

David Cameron promised this month to hold a parliamentary vote on repealing the fox-hunting ban if the Tories win the election. This has prompted pro-hunting campaigners to redouble their efforts to support Conservative candidates who are sympathetic to hunting.

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