Paul Waugh and Guido are both reporting what looks like a fairly sizeable own goal by Kerry McCarthy, a former Labour MP and the party’s candidate for Bristol East. She is also the Labour Party’s new media campaigns spokesperson.
Earlier this afternoon, McCarthy (aka @kerry4mp) tweeted some numbers that appeared to show an early count of postal votes in the constituency.
Seemingly realising her mistake, she subsequently tweeted:
On reflection, I’ve deleted. It’s not counting, just random exercise.
And then:
My mistake — hands up!
This may not resonate as much as the Gillian Duffy affair, but it could be very embarrassing nonetheless. Might this be a case for the Electoral Commission? Waugh suggests as much.