Election hopeful whose Wikipedia page was edited calls for Shapps inquiry
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Version 0 of 1. A Labour candidate has written to the director of public prosecutions calling for an investigation over edits made to his Wikipedia article by an account purportedly linked to the Tory party chairman, Grant Shapps. Related: Contribsx: does Grant Shapps's defence stand up? Karl Turner, the party’s candidate for Hull East, said the edits made by a Wikipedia user called Contribsx created a “false impression as to my character and conduct”. Contribsx was blocked by the online encyclopedia earlier this week because of suspicions it was being operated by Shapps or “someone close to him”. Shapps denies the allegation. Turner said that on Easter Sunday this year, Contribsx went online to change his Wikipedia page. The edit was made two weeks after Turner called on the prime minister to investigate Shapps over his repeated denials, which turned out to be false, that he had acted as “web millionaire” Michael Green while an MP. Contribsx posted on Turner’s page that the Labour MP had “admitted breaking House of Commons rules by sending out invitations to a £45-a-head Labour party fundraising event from parliamentary email”. Contribsx did not add that the parliamentary commissioner for standards had dismissed the allegations, which were originally made by a local Tory councillor. In his complaint to the DPP, Turner said his page had been edited in such a way “that the calculatedly deliberate omission of the fact that I was cleared by the commissioner is designed to cause me reputational and personal harm”. Related: Grant Shapps accused of editing Wikipedia pages of Tory rivals “Given that the edit was made by an editor that spent considerable time making edits to Grant Shapps’s profile to delete material that might be embarrassing to him, and given the edit to my profile was made so soon after I was quoted in the news as having criticised Mr Shapps for misleading journalists about whether he had a second job while an MP using the pseudonym Michael Green, I see this as a pattern of behaviour that warrants close investigation.” Under election law, which began to operate after David Cameron dissolved parliament at the end of March, these are charges that have to be considered by the nation’s most senior prosecutor. If an offence has been committed, the perpetrator faces a fine of up to £5,000. Section 106 of the 1983 Represenstation of the People Act says that it is illegal “for any person, whether before or after an election, for the purpose of affecting the return of any candidate, to make or publish any false statement of fact in relation to the candidate’s personal character or conduct”. When contacted by the Guardian over Turner’s decision write to the DPP, a spokesperson for the Tory party chair said he “has written to Wikipedia in California to ask them to review the decision [to link him to the account]. Grant Shapps unequivocally denies this and has nothing to add.” Shapps has suggested that he might be the victim of Labour dirty tricks and has strongly denied any involvement in making the changes. He said: “It is untrue from start to finish and was quite likely dreamt up by the Labour press office. Sadly, it is typical of the smears coming from those who would rather not debate policy and substance.” Turner stressed that his intervention is a personal one. A Labour spokesman said that the story “is not from the Labour party, nor does the party have any comment on its contents”. Related: Contribsx: does Grant Shapps's defence stand up? Since August 2013, a third of Contribsx’s edits were to Grant Shapps’s Wikipedia page – often to remove unflattering references to controversies around Shapps’s online businesses and his pseudonym Michael Green. Other edits often involved unflattering additions to other politicians, including senior figures in the Conservative party. Wikipedia has launched a review of the way it conducts its investigation of Contribsx, although it will not change the finding of the probe into the user account, which will remain blocked on the grounds of sock-puppetry. The Guardian understands that Grant Shapps’s Wikipedia article had been monitored by the site for months – as the Tory chair had previously admitted editing his own page surreptitiously. On Wednesday, it also emerged that Chaseme, one of the UK’s most senior Wikipedia administrators, who ran the investigation into Contribsx, had been a Lib Dem party member, although he had not been an activist. The Liberal Democrats have been quick to mock Shapps over the claims – with Nick Clegg joking that he believed Shapps when he said he had not made the edits. “It could have been someone else … Michael Green, for instance,” the Lib Dem leader said. Taking questions after a speech in Bedford, David Cameron was asked whether he had “full confidence” in his chairman. He replied: “Grant does a great job. He has made a very clear statement about this and I have got nothing to add to that.” |