A TEST Valley woman has hit out at a political party claiming they are “misrepresenting facts” in their election campaign.

Linda Klein, from Rownhams, believes a leaflet she received from the Liberal Democrats shows the party was close to “toppling the Tories” in the 2017 General Election.

The leaflet in question boasts three podiums showing the Conservatives in first place, the Liberal Democrats close behind in second and Labour in third place.

However, in the 2017 election, the Liberal Democrats raked in 10,622 votes, Labour received 9,614 and the Conservatives won 28,668 votes in Romsey and Southampton North.

The 65-year-old said: “We received this leaflet through the door and we looked at the graph where Craig Fletcher for the Liberal Democrats implies only their party can beat the Tories in the Romsey and Southampton North constituency.

“If you look at the graph it appears they were close to toppling the Tories in the last General Election when in fact no one of those parties were anywhere near the Tories.

“This has been picked up in the national press about how the Liberal Democrats are misrepresenting information about them possibly winning in some constituencies; it is outrageous.”

“I think many people will believe the leaflet and won’t remember what the result was in the last General Election.”

She added: “I think it is important people know the real result so they can make an informed choice this time.

“If they really cared about toppling the Tories then one of the parties needs to give up votes and put them into one party.

“There has been a huge swing to the Tories lately an in an ideal world I would have voted for the Green party, but it is a very important election and I want someone who could change the status quo.”

A spokesperson from the Lib Dems said: “The diagram used in our literature does not contain any figures which could mislead the electorate.The diagram referred to by your one complainant is in fact a podium indicating first, second and third position at the last election, which is clear and has been accepted by the vast majority of those whom we have tested their opinion as to what the diagram indicates.

“There is a small minority of mainly labour activists who are deliberately misinterpreting the meaning of the diagram and in doing so seeking to divert our staff time away from real campaigning.”

They added: “In our view there are more important issues to be dealt with and we will not be diverted from campaigning to help the Labour activists understand what the vast majority of the electorate already understand.

“They were third at the last election and every election for many years.”