THE SCOTTISH Conservatives have agreed to stop distributing a leaflet after a local business it featured complained.
Tory MSP Sandesh Gulhane, one of several looking to win himself a seat at Westminster at the next General Election, reportedly did not ask permission before including images of the Broom Cafe in Newton Mearns on his campaign material.
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In a post on Facebook on Wednesday, the cafe wrote: “It has come to our attention that this flyer from the Scottish Conservatives has come through many doors in East Renfrewshire.
“The Scottish Conservatives have taken this picture and published without our consent. If this has offended anyone we apologise.
“We do not attach ourselves to any political party.”
The post was accompanied by an angry-face emoji.
They also shared an image from Gulhane’s leaflet which showed him in the cafe with its “Broom Cafe” branding visible.
One Facebook user responded: “Good to know – will definitely be coming to your cafe now. Hate it when a business is exploited. Quite right for clearing that up.”
Another wrote: “That's terrible.”
A Scottish Tory spokesperson told the Daily Record: “We have spoken to the cafe and agreed this leaflet will not be distributed further.”
As well as Gulhane, Tory MSPs Sue Webber and Stephen Kerr are also looking to win themselves a seat at Westminster at the next General Election.
Last year, the Times reported that Scottish Conservative figures feared an exodus of MSPs to Westminster.
Donald Cameron, an aristocrat and the Scottish Tories’ former constitution spokesperson, quit Holyrood in recent weeks in order to take a peerage and become a UK Government minister.
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