March 14, 2016

Mr Lammy instigated 35,629 calls over two days, playing a recorded message that urged people to back his campaign to be named the Labour party candidate for London Mayor.

Calls that play a recorded message must only be made to people who have given the organisation their permission to receive this type of call, the ICO says.

The ICO investigation found Mr Lammy did not have such permission, and so had broken the rules set out in the Privacy and Electronic Communication Regulations.

In the run up to the EU referendum and elections for the devolved assemblies and English local government, the ICO is reiterating its advice to political parties to take note and follow the rules.

The calls were made in August 2015 using contact details of party members provided by the Labour Party.  Mr Lammy did not make the additional checks necessary to ensure he was able to contact the people with recorded messages.

Information Commissioner Christopher Graham said: “Mr Lammy’s team should have known there were special controls in place around calls with recorded messages.  Not only have we published detailed guidance on political campaigning on our website, but we have contacted political parties directly to remind them of the rules”.  To read the ICO’s press release in full, click here.