Council postpones homeless art exhibition as it ‘could be used for political purposes’ during election period

An art exhibition created with the homeless community has been postponed after the council argued that it “could be used for political purposes” during the pre-election period.

The National Theatre Wales TEAM ‘Our Voices’ exhibition was set to launch at the Wrexham Library later today – with the work available to view throughout the rest of the month.

It was due to feature artwork which had been created with the homeless community of Wrexham in collaboration with local artists Adrian Medcalf and Sophia Leadill. During the launch there was also set to be performances from the Wrexham One Love Choir and spoken word artist, Natasha Borton.

However last week it was announced by the National Theatre Wales Team that “due to circumstances beyond our control, we’ve had to postpone our Wrexham exhibition”.

It was later confirmed that Wrexham Council had asked organisers to postpone the event due to the pre-election period – or purdah as it’s also known as – which is currently in place.

The local authority says it approached organisers as it believed the exhibition on homelessness “could be used for political purposes”.

The pre election period is described by the LGA as a time when “…authorities should not issue any publicity which seeks to influence voters, ensure that publicity relating to policies and proposals from central government is balanced and factually accurate..” (you can read the Local Government Association purdah guidance here, but we can’t spot a similar document for the Welsh Local Government Association).

Welsh Government business is ongoing, however locally we have seen council meetings cease. Further afield it seems there are similar clashes to what is or is not allowed, for example on the same day Brent Council did not webcast a meeting due to the purdah period whereas Camden Council did.

Recently we have documented how council meetings and agenda items have been postponed so not to potentially conflict with the General Election, meaning public facing council meetings have been quite sparse since the summer break.

We asked Wrexham Council about the cancellation of the exhibition itself, noting that the event did not appear to have political motivation or political speakers just local artists and a choir.

We asked how the exhibition would have affected the impartiality of the council, and also asked who made the decision to postpone the event at such short notice.

We also noted that some council property appears to have been used by political parties and candidates during the election period, specifically Queens Square and Tŷ Pawb, and how that differs.

A spokesperson for Wrexham Council said: “During the pre-election period we have to be extremely careful not to allow any council facility to be used for political canvassing.

“When we were made aware of this launch the organisers were asked to postpone it as we believed it could be used for political purposes.

“The exhibition itself is open to the public and we hope the launch will take place after the election on December 12.”

“We are not aware of any other building or facility, owned or managed by the council that has been booked for any political activity.”