Derbyshire Green Party refutes allegation of removing Tory by-election campaign leaflet from letterbox

Conservative Horsley By Election Candidate Amanda Paget, Courtesy Of Ms Paget.

By Jon Cooper – Local Democracy Reporting Service

The Derbyshire Green Party has refuted ‘in the strongest terms’ allegations that one of their activists has removed a posted Conservative leaflet on the campaign trail before a by-election in the county.

Conservative candidate Amanda Paget has filed a complaint with an officer at Amber Valley Borough Council ahead of the Derbyshire County Council Horsley division by-election, on January 20th, over claims that a Green Party activist removed a Tory campaign leaflet from the letterbox of a resident’s home.

A Green Party spokesperson said: “The Green Party refutes in the strongest terms these allegations. Recent social media posts are misleading and provide no evidence to support claims that Green Party volunteers removed political opponent’s leaflets.”

Ms Paget claims one of her own supporters was doing a leaflet drop at a home in Horsley Woodhouse when he allegedly spotted a Green Party campaigner also post a Green Party leaflet at the same address before removing the previously delivered Conservative leaflet.

Derbyshire County Council Group Leader, Cllr Alex Dale, said: “This is a serious breach of election law and a direct attack on democracy. Removing other parties’ election material is illegal and completely unacceptable.

“Voters have a right to receive information from all candidates and make up their own minds. Trying to interfere with that process shows a troubling attitude from the Greens – a belief that local people cannot be trusted to judge the facts for themselves. That shows real contempt for voters.

“We have raised a formal complaint with the police and the Returning Officer and expect this to be fully investigated.”

The alleged incident appears to have been highlighted on Facebook by ‘Spotted Heanor D7 anonymous participant’ with video footage of a separate matter involving Green Party Derbyshire County Cllr Rachel Hatchett from 2024 in Smalley when she was not a councillor.

Derbyshire County Council Green Party Leader, Cllr Gez Kinsella, said this footage shows Cllr Hatchett, at a time when there was not an election, delivering a newsletter in November, 2024, and when she realised this home was exempt from receiving such material she retrieved this leaflet.

A Green Party spokesperson added: “The video being shared actually dates from November 2024 – when no election was taking place. It shows a volunteer delivering Green Party newsletters who accidentally delivered to a ‘do not deliver’ address.

“On realising the mistake, within seconds the volunteer retrieved the Green Party leaflet from the external, open letterbox. Nothing else was removed. The video was shared at the time and later resurfaced during the May 2025 elections on pages linked to our political opponents.

“On Thursday [January] 15th, Amanda Paget, Conservative candidate in the Horsley by-election, contacted us to claim she had recent footage of a Green Party volunteer removing Conservative leaflets and said the matter had been reported to Amber Valley Borough Council’s Monitoring Officer. However, no further contact was made and no footage was shared.

“No further evidence has been produced. Instead, the November 2024 video has been reposted, creating the false impression that our volunteers are stealing opponents leaflets.

“This is a shameful attempt to smear the Green Party. We will continue to hold ourselves to the highest moral standards, acting with integrity and honesty.”

The Green Party has also stated that it never condones the removal of literature from letterboxes which goes against the high democratic standards that it sets itself.

A Green Party spokesperson added that it ensures that all councillors and volunteers delivering literature are aware of and adhere to the high standards we set ourselves.

Ms Paget revealed that following contact with Amber Valley Borough Council which is overseeing the By Election she was advised to inform Derbyshire police which she has done on the grounds that removing posted mail from a property is deemed to be an offence.

She also explained Cllr Hatchett appeared to be retrieving a posted leaflet in a separate incident in Smalley, in 2024, from the home of Ms Paget’s parents which was listed as a ‘do not deliver’ property and that this matter was caught on the doorbell camera.

Concerning the latest claims, Cllr Kinsella said: “As far as I know there is no evidence to show we have done anything wrong and we have not been contacted by the police or the Monitoring Officer.”

Reform UK Derbyshire County Cllr Stephen Reed, of the Reform UK-controlled authority, said there are ‘serious concerns that need to be investigated by police’.

The Derbyshire County Council Horsley division by-election arose following the resignation of Reform UK County Cllr Richard Morgan due to health issues six months after his appointment in May, 2025.

Candidates include: John Cowings – Labour; Adrian Miller – Liberal Democrats; Amanda Paget – Conservative; Lian Pizzey – Green Party; Juliette Stevens – Reform UK; and Alex Stevenson – Advance UK.