Misleading MP's website links disconnected

Web domains in the name of a Liberal Democrat MP that led people to a Conservative rival's website all appear to have been disconnected.

Two sitting Devon MPs, Conservative Simon Jupp and Richard Foord, Liberal Democrat, will go head-to-head in the general election in a new constituency.

People typing in RichardFoord.uk, RichardFoord.co.uk or RichardFoord.com were redirected to Mr Jupp's site.

Mr Jupp previously told the BBC he was "not responsible for the web domains".

After it emerged on Monday the links were no longer redirecting people, Mr Foord said he was considering how to take the matter further.

Records show all three domain names were created on 23 January 2024.

Nominet is the official registry for UK domain names and operates a dispute resolution service.

A spokesman for Nominet said it had not received a complaint but would investigate the matter if it did.

Adam Taylor, from specialist tech law firm Adlex Solicitors, said the resolution service could be used where personal names are incorporated into .co.uk or .uk domain names "that were registered or used to take unfair advantage of, or cause unfair detriment to, the claimant".

Mr Taylor said there was a separate procedure for .com addresses which "generally excludes claims by people based on their personal names, even if famous, unless they have actually used their names for some form of trading activity".

Mr Jupp is currently the MP for East Devon but will be the Conservative candidate standing against Mr Foord in a new constituency of Honiton and Sidmouth introduced due to boundary changes.

Mr Jupp has not yet responded to a request for comment regarding the news that the links were no longer redirecting web users to his website.