Smaller parties have claimed they are being squeezed out of the May elections by “over zealous” enforcement of anti-Covid rules.
They said on Friday a ban on leafleting by volunteers left them unable to compete against the major parties which have well-funded mailshots and even paid deliveries.
Brian Rose, a former Wall Street banker and independent candidate for Mayor of London, was fined £200 last month for campaigning in the streets.
Outside London, Neil McEvoy, a member of the Welsh assembly has accused police of “subverting the democratic process” after officers went to his home to warn about door to door leafleting in Cardiff.
New York born Mr Rose, who has lived in London for 20 years, was stopped in Southwark by police while canvassing with four supporters and told that campaigning was “not a necessary reason to be out of your homes”.
He said: “They’ve now told us it’s ok to leaflet but only if a private company is doing the leafleting - volunteers can’t leaflet, which by definition seems to imply that if you’re an independent candidate or smaller party, and don’t have the funds, then you can’t campaign.
“This seems to be a major violation of the democratic process. How can you hold free and fair elections if you can’t educate the public who the candidates are?”
Mr McEvoy, who is leader of fringe party Propel, said Labour was using private companies to deliver leaflets in Wales and questioned why volunteers were forbidden. “If the law is there then the law has to apply equally to everybody,” he said. “Everyone has gloves, everybody has sanitiser, myself included.”
Mr Rose was consoled by the fact that a video of him being stopped by police has been viewed a million times on social media – giving him some much-needed publicity.
