Tory hopeful botches campaign website with image from 350 miles away
Prospective Tory MP for Reading East Craig Morley has been criticised for a blunder on his website. Picture: Craig Morley - Credit: Craig Morley
A Conservative election candidate has bungled his campaign website by featuring a ruin that he thought was in his constituency - but is actually 350 miles away.
The upper image, which appeared on Morley's website, featured Melrose Abbey in Scotland, before it wasd hurriedly replaced with local landmark below - Reading Abbey. Picture: Craig Morley - Credit: Craig Morley
Would-be MP Craig Morley is attempting to take the strongly pro-Remain Reading East seat from incumbent Labour MP Matt Rodda.
To that end, his team built a website scattered with images from around the constituency - or so Morley thought.
One banner image, emblazoned with the slogan "from Reading East, for Reading East", included a ruin which is definitely not in Reading East.
The historic remains were in fact Melrose Abbey in Scotland.
You may also want to watch:
The picture has now been replaced by the intended Reading Abbey, which rival politicians say is an unmistakeable landmark. Labour councillor Richard Davies of Reading Borough Council told the Reading Chronicle: "It's amazing that he wasn't able to identify our most important heritage asset and one that the council worked hard with local people to restore and re-open to the public.
"It would be obvious to anyone who had visited Reading Abbey ruins that that picture was of a totally different place.'
Most Read
- 1 The biggest scandal may be that no rules were broken
- 2 A chapter is over for Britain, for good or ill
- 3 Russell Kane: Why working class people like Boris Johnson
- 4 BBC journalist admits being 'haunted' by fear broadcaster 'built up' Nigel Farage and UKIP
- 5 Welsh government takes Westminster to court over post-Brexit bill
- 6 Alan Duncan should have spoken out sooner about Boris Johnson
- 7 The deep-seated issues beneath Sofagate
- 8 Ulster Unionism's crisis of faith
- 9 The only Brexit export boom is from UK businesses rushing to Europe
- 10 EU president faces fresh calls to resign over 'disastrous' Covid vaccine programme
Morley told the Mail Online: "I was born and raised in Reading, it is my home town constituency.
"The Abbey is an important landmark of the town.
"I grew up with its imprint on the Reading landscape. My website designer added the wrong image in my website banner header. It was an easy mistake for an external agency to make."
He added: "Over the past few months, I have been out and about across Reading East meeting residents and listening to their their concerns.
"I was focused on helping give residents the voice they need.
"I wasn't stuck at my desk checking the website header that had been added. It has now been amended."
Become a Supporter
The New European is proud of its journalism and we hope you are proud of it too. We believe our voice is important - both in representing the pro-EU perspective and also to help rebalance the right wing extremes of much of the UK national press. If you value what we are doing, you can help us by making a contribution to the cost of our journalism.
