A TORY AM has been criticised for displaying his daughter’s parliamentary campaign posters at his constituency office, which is not supposed to be used for electioneering.
Mohammad Asghar, who represents South Wales East, said a staffer probably put up the posters urging voters to back Natasha Asghar by mistake. They have now been removed from his headquarters on Church Road in Maindee.
Former chat show host Ms Asghar is standing as a Conservative candidate for the general election in Newport East.
Five posters backing her campaign were spotted in the window of Mr Asghar AM’s office, causing one constituent to write to the Presiding Officer Rosemary Butler on Friday.
Elaine Bryant questioned whether there had been an “abuse” of a constituency office, saying: “It was my understanding that the offices are financed by the Assembly and thus ultimately by the TAX payer. Please can you clarify the situation?”
A Welsh Assembly spokesman said guidance states: “A Member who rents part of an office (in respect of which Office Cost Allowance is claimed) to a party political organisation must ensure that no other part of the office is used for party political, including electioneering, purposes.”
He added: “If a matter is raised with us then our focus is to try to remove the problem/correct the situation. Whether a complaint is admissible, and what flows from that, is a matter for the Standards Commissioner.”
The Tory AM brushed aside concerns saying the issue was a misunderstanding. “It’s all removed now”, he said. “It was a mistake – it was just one small poster.”
But he denied involvement, saying, “I didn’t do it, the staff there probably did it. It’s all over now.”
He said Newport East Conservatives did use a small portion of the building but did not rent any of it.
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