Tory candidate says ‘excrement’ was put through office letterbox

Katherine Fletcher, who is running for re-election in South Ribble, said the act was ‘an attempt to bully me’.

Katherine Fletcher is running for re-election in South Ribble (David Woolfall/UK Parliament/PA) (PA Media)

A Tory parliamentary candidate has said “excrement” was put through the letterbox of her constituency office.

Katherine Fletcher, who is standing for re-election in South Ribble for the Conservatives, said the act was an “attempt to bully me”.

She added that a volunteer discovered the substance and police are looking into the matter.

In a video posted to X on Thursday, Ms Fletcher said: “Today the police are at my office because somebody has put excrement through the letterbox.

“One of my volunteers had to find that this morning.

“Now, I understand that women get more than their fair share in political environments, but this attempt to bully me will not work because it is not the decent or right thing to do.

“I’m working hard for South Ribble. I’ve delivered loads – I want the opportunity to do more.

“And so to the bully that did this: not the right person.”

A £31 million package to boost security measures for politicians – including providing MPs with a dedicated police safety liaison – was introduced by the Government in February.

It came amid heightened tensions caused by protests around the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza.

Justice minister Mike Freer, who is not standing at the General Election because of threats to his safety, said the extra cash was “not actually going to the root cause” of why people were targeting MPs.

Ms Fletcher, who served as transport minister and minister for women under Liz Truss in 2022, has represented the South Ribble constituency in Lancashire since 2019.