Barking councillor is victim of political dirty tricks

A BARKING councillor appears to have been the victim of political dirty tricks after a caller claiming to be her contacted the POST.

Cllr Val Rush, who represents Gascoigne Ward, along with several other long serving councillors, is currently fighting de-selection for the next municipal election.

She has been receiving a huge amount of support from Gascoigne residents and voters.

The caller claimed to be Cllr Rush and said she had been successful in her appeal with a national Labour Party committee.

She also said she was looking forward to being able to serve the people of Gascoigne Ward.

Cllr Rush believes it could have be an attempt to sabotage her campaign.

She said: "I'm amazed that someone would do something like that. I find it very strange and very spiteful. A lot of people I know are also very angry about it and rightly so."

Cllr Rush says she has been forced to make numerous calls to let everyone know that her campaign is still going ahead.

She added: "One resident, who's not a big earner, actually turned up with a bottle of champagne and a card to congratulate me on winning the appeal. He'd gone to all that effort and I had to tell him it wasn't true."

She added: "Although I can't be sure, it does seem this person was trying to lose me support in my campaign.

"However, my supporters are now even more determined than ever. What happened has turned them into a fighting force.