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Lib Dems sorry after £5 leaflet delivery charge

Ben SchofieldBBC East political correspondent
News imageSupplied A leaflet titled 'South Cambs Lib Dems', with a sub heading that says 'Pippa Heylings MP and your local councillor team'. The headline is in yellow and stretches across the width of the page. Below the sub heading, which is in black typeface, is a black and white photograph, which shows diamond-shaped Liberal Democrats signs being held in the air. A section of writing to the right of the image has been blurred out, so cannot be read.Supplied
The constituent said they did not think the leaflet was worth £5

A branch of the Liberal Democrats has apologised after a leaflet was sent out without the correct postage – prompting a constituent to pay £5 to have it delivered.

The South Cambridgeshire resident said they did not think the leaflet from the party's local branch was worth the fee.

The branch has offered to reimburse the constituent and acknowledged it would have been an "unpleasant shock".

It said it relied on volunteers and "occasionally... a letter can accidentally find its way into a postbox without a stamp on".

News imageSupplied A leaflet from the Royal Mail saying "Sorry, there's a fee to pay before we can deliver your item". There is a large reference number, but the surname and address of the recipient have been blurred out. The date on the leaflet is 26 March 2026. It also says "the sender did not pay the full postage" and that the "amount due" is £5.Supplied
A Royal Mail card said there was a £5 fee to pay because "the sender did not pay the full postage"

The constituent, who lives in Whittlesford, Cambridgeshire, and the BBC has agreed not to name, said they received a card from Royal Mail that said there was "a fee to pay before we can deliver your item".

It added that because "the sender did not pay the full postage" a £5 fee needed paying.

As they were expecting a package through the post, they paid the fee online.

News imageSupplied The corner of an opened white envelope, onto which two stickers have been stuck. A yellow sticker says "no postage", while another - placed over the top of the yellow one - has Royal Mail's logo on it, with "redeliver on 30 Mar 2026" also written.Supplied
The leaflet was delivered a few days later

A few days later a leaflet arrived from the South Cambridgeshire Liberal Democrats featuring "Pippa Heylings MP and your local councillor team".

Heylings won the seat in the 2024 General Election.

Her party also runs South Cambridgeshire District Council, where all seats are being contested at local elections in May.

On the other side of the leaflet was a letter describing the Lib Dems' performance running the authority and the political battles it faces in the upcoming elections.

It was signed "with best wishes, Pippa Heylings MP".

News imageGareth Fuller/PA Wire Sir Ed Davey and Pippa Heylings, laughing heartily. Sir Ed is seated and is on the left of frame, wearing a white shirt with a blue tie, and a striped black and white apron. In his right hand, which is covered in either dough or icing, he is holding a butter knife. Heylings, with short blonde hair and a white top on, is standing, but leaning forward. Her eyes are scrunched shut as she laughs. She appears to be holding a plastic bowl, which is out of focus and in the bottom right of frame. The bowl appears to contain some off the baking ingredients the pair have been working with.Gareth Fuller/PA Wire
Last month Pippa Heylings joined party leader Sir Ed Davey at a bake-off style event to launch the Liberal Democrats' local election campaign

The BBC contacted Heylings' office about the leaflet, which passed the inquiry to South Cambridgeshire Liberal Democrats.

A spokesperson for the party's local branch said "like all parties" it relied on volunteers to deliver leaflets and letters to local people.

They added: "Where we are informed of these mistakes, we take immediate effort to reimburse the resident and apologise for the inconvenience.

"Of course this type of mistake would be an unpleasant shock that is then frustrating to deal with."

The branch said as far as it was aware "this has happened only one other time this year – so we are talking about a very small number of cases".

"In this instance, we are sorry for the mistake and invite the affected resident to get in touch with us so we can reimburse them and apologise directly."

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