LAST week, the Conservative Party paid to advertise their message in a ‘wraparound’ advertisement across a number of North West Newsquest titles, including The Westmorland Gazette.

Unfortunately, this has upset a number of our readers on the basis of that we have shown alleged political bias.

However, The Westmorland Gazette was no more endorsing the Conservative Party than any other brand or product that has paid to advertise in any of our news brands for the past 200 years.

This was clearly labelled as an advertisement

The Westmorland Gazette supports no political party.

There is, and always has been, a very clear distinction between editorial and advertising content.

Political editorial and election coverage will continue to be reported in a completely non-partisan way.