A candidate in next month's council elections has claimed a rival has used his middle name as a surname to put himself at the top of the ballot paper. Matthew Bailey, who is standing as an Independent in Clydach, is one of six candidates vying for three councillor positions to represent the ward on Swansea Council.
He would have been top of the ballot paper, which is listed alphabetically by surname, but he is now below Labour candidate Wez Alexander Morgan, who is there because his surname is considered to be 'Alexander Morgan' and, as it starts with the letter 'A' would come before Bailey. Mr Bailey claims Mr Morgan has gained an advantage by doing so, because some evidence suggested that voters tend to favour candidates higher up the ballot paper in elections. You can read more stories about Swansea here.
Mr Morgan said Alexander was a name given to him by his parents and was perfectly appropriate to use. Mr Bailey has checked his rival's birth certificate, which he said showed Alexander as being a middle name, and Companies House, where Wezley Morgan is shown as a director of a Swansea company called Starki Ltd. The Labour candidate's Facebook and Twitter accounts are both in the name of Wez Morgan. You can get more Swansea news and other story updates by subscribing to our newsletters here.
