Tory candidates in Liz Truss’ constituency have given themselves a rebrand in an apparent attempt to distance them from the national party.
Candidates in West Norfolk and Breckland - which both cover Ms Truss' South West Norfolk seat - will all be listed as 'Local Conservatives' at the elections in May, with opposition groups arguing they are trying to distinguish themselves from the Westminster government.
Nationally, the Tories are struggling in the polls, with the fallout first from the Partygate scandal and then Ms Truss' disastrous spell in Downing Street.
In the most recent elections for the two councils, the party’s candidates have been listed as “The Conservative Party Candidate”.
Jo Rust, an Independent councillor in West Norfolk, said: “These councillors who have been happy to be photographed reselecting both Tory MPs James Wild and Liz Trus are now, all of a sudden, wanting to distance themselves from them as if there’s some kind of difference.
“They are all card-carrying members of the party, it’s a tactical move to try to convince people that national government decisions, like cutting the funding needed for social care, are nothing to do with them.
“But they enable it by paying their memberships and supporting their national MPs.”
However, Conservative councillors have argued that the change has nothing to do with separating themselves from the national party.
Ian Sherwood, a Breckland councillor, said the 'Local Conservative' brand has been used in some past elections, including by himself, with local branches selecting a description ahead of each election.
“These are local councillors, local candidates, local people.
“I don’t feel that it’s trying to distance us from the national party. To me it’s about the importance of local services and highlighting what is important when door knocking.
“In Breckland, people know they will get council tax which is one of the lowest in the country.
“We are saying, ‘we are Conservative but we are the local Conservatives, we will look after you here’.
“We are not distancing ourselves from the national party, that’s why we still have Conservative in the name.”
Has this been done elsewhere?
Conservative councillors in elections held last year in other parts of the country used a similar tactic.
Several candidates pleaded with voters not to "punish" them for things like the Partygate scandal.
Jane Reeve, then a Hartlepool Conservative candidate, said: “Please don’t punish local Conservatives for the mistakes made in Westminster, we are local and proud of where we live and, like you, we want the best for Hartlepool.”
Polls for the national parties suggest the Tories would take a hammering if a general election were to be held today, with 46pc expected to vote Labour and 28pc Conservative.
However, the Labour group does not appear to have successfully cut through in West Norfolk, with candidates for just over half the available seats.
Of the 55 seats across 35 wards at WNC, Labour is only fielding 29 candidates compared with the Conservatives' 49.
West Norfolk has already had the first victor in the local elections.
Jim Bhondi has been the only person to stand for Watlington, meaning he immediately is selected as an Independent councillor.
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