Labour Club candidate Olivia Bailey was penalised on Wednesday for presenting a misleading statement about a rival candidate on her personal website.
Dissatisfaction with the Returning Officer’s original ruling forced Olivia Bailey’s campaign team to unsuccessfully appeal the decision to the panel that judges appeals, Junior Tribunal.
The statement, on Bailey’s Facebook page, said, “I am being open and honest about my political affiliations. All the candidates in this election have their own political views, nobody is completely independent.” Lewis Iwu claims on his own site that he “has no hidden agenda” and has described himself as an “independent candidate” in the election.
Although rivals, both Bailey and Iwu are members of the Oxford University Labour Club, but only Bailey has their endorsement as an official Labour Club candidate. In contrast to Bailey, Iwu is not running on a slate with other candidates.
OUSU Returning Officer James Dray originally upheld the complaint and reduced Bailey’s publicity limit by 20 poster stamps.
Following an appeal that Bailey was entitled to express an opinion about her rival candidate, Junior Tribunal issued a ruling which stated, “Lewis Iwu and Olivia Bailey are in direct competition and so expressions of opinion about any other candidate are permitted. We do find, however, that Olivia Bailey is in breach of SO 3d7i since the statement “I am being open and honest about my political affiliations. All the candidates in this election have their own political views, nobody is completely independent,” is misleading in its implication that Lewis Iwu is not being open and honest about his political affiliations, when we have no evidence to suggest that he is not.”
The panel therefore ruled that Bailey remove “nobody is completely independent” from her website and upheld the Returning Officer’s original fine.
Bailey and Iwu refused to comment directly on the issue, citing election rules preventing them from speaking to journalists. Both candidates will stand for election as OUSU President next Thursday.
Fine for Bailey after Iwu affiliation slur
