A Winchester City Council candidate has been threatened with legal action after featuring a village food bank in his election campaign.
Malcolm Wallace, who’s running for Central Meon Valley for the Greens, was issued with a cease-and-desist order after using Meon Valley Food Bank’s logo in his flyers.
The foodbank, which is based in Wickham Community Centre, has further branded the election hopeful as “dishonest” for claims made in his campaign material that he’s been ‘working hard’ to stand up for the vulnerable and the organisations which support them, such as the food bank.
READ MORE: Who you can vote for in the Winchester election 2022 - full list of candidates
Mr Wallace has apologised to the foodbank and has said he’s taken steps to remedy the breach of copyright, which was brought forward by the designer of the logo, Craig Blakeway. Mr Blakeway has said he now considers the matter as having reached a ‘satisfactory conclusion’.
Mike Salter, chairman of the foodbank, said: “The Green Party candidate for the Meon Valley has claimed in his election material that the party supports the Meon Valley Food Bank. This is totally untrue. We have asked him on a previous occasion not to publish material about the Meon Valley Food Bank without checking with us first.
“The candidate, Malcolm Wallace, maintains that as he personally makes occasional donations of food via a local donation point, he is at liberty to use our name and logo in his material. This is a complete abuse of his position. The Meon Valley Food Bank is independent of all political parties and has no affiliation whatsoever to the Green Party.”
Mr Wallace said: “On April 20 I received communication from Meon Valley Food Bank regarding use of their logo in the Election Address that was circulated. I take this opportunity to clarify that Meon Valley Food Bank is a charity and does not endorse or support any political parties. I did not receive approval from Meon Valley Food Bank to use their logo in the literature and I apologise to Meon Valley Food Bank for any confusion that has been caused.
SEE ALSO: Councillor apologises after printing 'lies' in election material about Winchester council candidate
“I have also apologised directly to Meon Valley Food Bank representatives. It was never my intent to politicise the food bank, only to raise the profile of the good work that is being undertaken and to encourage more people to support.
“My son was volunteering in the Winchester Food Bank at the start of the pandemic, so I am keenly aware of the increased efforts that have been needed over the past months to support some of the most vulnerable in our community.”
Mr Wallace is having a second attempt at winning a council seat. In the election held in May 2021 he received 33 per cent of the total votes in the Central Meon Valley Ward, up 19 per cent from 2019.
Full list of candidates for the Central Meon Valley ward:
Linda Eileen Elizabeth Gemmell - Conservative Party
Malcolm Wallace - Green Party
Stefanie Patricia Harvey - Labour Party
Thomas Joseph Gregory - Liberal Democrats
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