Tory Mayoral hopeful Zac Goldsmith’s “top secret” event – which Inside Croydon is happy to reveal is being staged at Clyde Hall, Addiscombe, doors open at 5pm today – has descended into chaos and acrimony amid accusations that the Conservative Party organisers were incompetent, that they had selected participants along racial lines, and with threats of complaints to the Information Commissioner for a serious breach of data protection law.
Golden balls-up: the #BackZacAndCrack campaign team has blundered in Croydon
The bungled rejection message was issued by Goldsmith’s campaign team yesterday.
But whoever sent it (no individual name was attached to any of the correspondence) used the carbon copy – cc – address field, rather than blind copying the addressees, which would have maintained their confidentiality. And it would also have kept the Tory campaign on the right side of strict laws about the protection of the public’s personal data.
The email was sent by the #BackZacAndCrack campaign team to more than 50 Croydon residents, who had expressed an interest in hearing the Conservative candidate speak. The episode raises an important question about Goldsmith’s abilities: if he cannot manage a campaign within simple competencies, what chance does he have in running the greatest city on the planet?
The blunder has already cost the Tories at least one vote.
One angry Croydon resident, “outed” by having their email address broadly distributed by the Conservative Party, replied to the campaign address:
“Dear Incompetent The BackZac2016 Team,” they wrote. “The least I would expect is privacy versus a blanket email to everyone … I will be making a formal complaint to the ICO about this and of course a copy of the same will be shared with the press.
“…I was unsure who would get my vote. Now I am sure as to who will not get my vote.
“London is the world’s greatest city and not a circus. We already are paying the price for electing an Entertainer (at best) as the current Mayor. The million pound questions is ‘Should we (the people) take a chance to elect another Entertainer for four years, when his team cannot handle a simple task of sending individual emails out?’.”
And to think he resisted the opportunity to describe Boris Johnson as a clown.
A typical Tory canvassing team, in operation last weekend. Notice anything?
Another rejectee made a more serious complaint – and again hit the “reply all” button so that everyone on the Tories’ bungled listing might see.
“I believe that the over-demand is an excuse under which you have screened the audience,” they wrote, “and apparently excluded many people on the basis of their ethnicity. I recognise many emails of people that are conservative with a small “c”, ie. Indians like me.”
Notification of the “top secret” event had gone out as a “personal invitation” at the weekend from Chris Philp, the Conservative MP for Croydon South. Philp invited select constituents on the Croydon Tory mailing list to write to an email address to request a place at Goldsmith’s latest visit to Croydon.
Those responding to Philp’s invitation were told that they would be sent the venue details if they won a place in this great #BackZacAndCrack lottery.
Croydon Tories have spent more than five years data-scraping every piece of correspondence that they receive from the public to develop a formidable database of names and email addresses. According to Gavin Barwell, the MP for Croydon Central, this database now has information on more than 10,000 people.
Much of this party political campaigning data-scraping work has in the past been done by Barwell’s office staff, effectively paid for by the tax-payer. This has not prevented several previous blunders over data protection and complaints about the handling of of personal data by Croydon Tories.
Four years ago, complaints were made when the Boris Johnson Mayoral campaign started using contacting Croydon residents, with Croydon Tories accused of handing over their email address list. Hence, this time around, the email from Philp inviting those who had agreed to be on his mailing list, inviting them to contact #BackZacAndCrack.
With such spectacular results.
- Still Croydon’s only independent news source, and based in the heart of the borough: 1.97 million page views 2013-2015
- Inside Croydon: Named among best regional media campaigns, 2014
- If you have a news story about life in or around Croydon, a residents’ or business association or local event to publicise, please email us with full details at inside.croydon@btinternet.com
I too was refused a ticket and outed by their incompetent staff!!
And now you’ve managed to “out” yourself on a website seen by thousands, rather than the dozens on the email list. Well done!
We have seen your email of complaint, too. Do you really think that because the #BackZacAndCrack team had called it a “Town Hall” event (in the style of Obama campaign meetings), that it was Town Hall officers who were responsible, as you say in your email?
Not too sure why you are behaving so aggressively towards me Sir?
Oh get over yourself. No one’s behaving “aggressively” towards you. Just highlighting the idiocy of your attention seeking position and utter ignorance over a political campaign.
Zac Goldsmith, the Conservative candidate for Mayor of London, was another Tory MP to vote for the cuts in spite of his position as patron of a disability charity.
While he has no control over incinerator emissions, nothing happens to companies who exceed them:
A) 72 hours. That’s three days of pumping out completely unfiltered and highly toxic emissions. If abatement Equipment breaks down.
B) The company running the incinerator (Viridor) are the ones who monitor the emissions and they only have to report the results once a year. They can leave it to Sutton for AQM,and often use intermediary websites for their reports.Colnbrook figures were falsified in the during a huge pollution spike ,which disappeared in the official report
C)One waste Incinerator in Dumfries, Scotland, breached emission limits more than 200 times from 2009 until July 2013 when it burned down.
Yet he makes the stupid, meaningless promise
“Stop “the South London incinerator from breaking environmental limits.”
Zac means the ones Toxic Tory MEP’s changed & rendered useless “to cut red tape.”
He also forgets the vast fleets of diesel lorries needed to fill up and empty it, in the context of the terrible worsening of London-wide pollution and the effects of congestion and population increase. As far as local knowledge goes, he seems to think that Croydon is not in a geographical bowl, but flat as a pancake, or like his beloved Heathrow.
No, the email mistake does not surprise me, nor the attack pamphlet that came through my letterbox yesterday. His Dad was a bully, Dave is a bully, George has stolen his trousers and he is just doing as he is told, under the thumbs of Lynton Crosby and the donors.