A LIBERAL Democrat hopeful has been questioned on BBC Radio 4 about the party's use of political newspapers.

Sam Gyimah, a former Conservative MP who defected to Jo Swinson's party, said whatever literature his party had published would 'be consistent with electoral law'.

It comes after the editor of the Basingstoke Gazette Katie French condemned the party for publishing and distributing a political advert 'dressed up as a local newspaper' titled the Mid Hampshire Gazette.

The four-page publication, printed in Licolnshire, was posted through the doors of homes across Hampshire. 

Nick Robinson asked him if it wasn’t time to “play fairer” putting to him: “There’s a newspaper that’s been issued by the Liberal Democrats, not in the constituency you are running in forgive me in Mid Hampshire, calls itself the Mid Hampshire Gazette but the man who runs the news that’s called the Gazette says look this is party propaganda and you shouldn’t be pretending it’s a newspaper, one that already exists.

“Is it really necessary for political parties to play these games, to try to pretend to be what they are not just like the Tories did on Twitter recently isn’t it better to be just open about what you are up to?”

Mr Gyimah, who had the whip withdrawn from him by the Conservatives before crossing over to the Liberal Democrats, said: “If it is election literature there are laws governing how election literature is sent to the public. It will have an imprint and all that so I am sure whatever it is would be consistent with electoral law.”

He added: “Parties are at liberty, so long as it is the law, in presenting their literature how they seek to. But if you are talking about the hierarchy of what is fair then ‘Get Brexit Done’ is the most illusory statement in this election.”