IT WAS meant to be a way of drumming up vital support ahead of a hotly-contested General Election.

But instead a letter from Prime Minister David Cameron to people in Southampton has been labelled “embarrassing” after the constituency name was spelled wrong three times.

The letter bearing the Prime Minister’s letterhead and signature has come through the letter boxes of people in the Itchen constituency ahead of the election on May 7.

In the letter he says “the choice you face now is whether we stick to a plan that is working, or turn back and waste all the hard work and sacrifices of the last five years”.

However, in the next line he adds that “how you vote here in Southampton Itchin on May 7 will make a real difference”.

The misspelling is repeated twice in the next two lines of the letter, which continues to spell out the Conservative Party’s plans to lower taxes, invest in schools and provide “an NHS that always gives the best care for you and your loved ones”.

Conservative candidate for Itchen Royston Smith played down the error, saying: “I don’t think it’s terribly helpful, however these things happen when you are in the heat of a General Election campaign and you are sending out millions of letters.

“Secondly just to put it into context I read typos in the Echo every day because thousands and millions of words are written every day and it isn’t terribly helpful but it isn’t a deliberate slight.

“One small typo does not an election win or lose and I hope people will see it in the context of being a typo and nothing more than that.”

Daily Echo: Southampton City Council leader Royston Smith and HMS Astute

Royston Smith

A Conservative party spokesman said many letters had been sent out to constituents with the correct spelling, adding: “‘This was an honest mistake, made in the heat of campaigning.”

Labour candidate Rowenna Davis, said: “As embarrassing as this spelling slip-up is, we all make silly mistakes sometimes.

“But where the Prime Minister has really let us down is on the things that matter, like the state of our NHS, immigration and the cost of living.

“So when we ask people to vote Labour, it’s not because of a spelling mistake, it’s because we can truly make a difference to the things the people of Southampton really care about.”

Daily Echo:

Rowenna Davis

Kim Rose, UKIP’s candidate for the seat, said: “Quite frankly I don’t care how people spell Itchen, he’s made the mistake, but I am not going to pull David Cameron to bits over getting a spelling wrong.

“What I am going to pull him to bits over is him saying that he was going to get immigration down and he hasn’t.”

The Green Party’s candidate John Spottiswoode described it as a “silly mistake”, while Sue Atkins, the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition hopeful, said: “It’s a bit slapdash, I would have thought somebody would have proofread it first.”