Epsom and Ewell has a new mayor and Mole Valley has a new chairman but both have taken up office with a conspicuous lack of publicity.

Both Jan Mason in Epsom and Tim Hall in Mole Valley are both district and county councillors and will be fighting to retain their seats on Surrey County Council on June 4.

As a result the press offices in both Epsom and Ewell and Mole Valley have limited themselves to what they can say about the new appointments although Epsom put out a full statement and picture of Councillor Mason only to withdraw it shortly afterwards.

To add to the confusion over roles, Tim Hall is acting as agent for the Conservative candidates in some Epsom and Ewell divisions and has put in a formal complaint about some of the Residents Association election literature.

Jan Mason, a Residents Association candidate who is fighting to retain her seat in the Epsom and Ewell west division of the county council, has been told to withdraw her leaflets because of a technical infringement of the rules governing elections.

She has fallen foul of the law governing the details which must be printed on the bottom of the literature including the name and address of the candidate’s agent, the address of the organisation and the name of the printer.

There have been no complaints governing the main content of her leaflets.

Leaflets in two other divisions have also been reprinted.

In the meantime, until the election on June 4 she is carrying out her role as mayor, a non-political position, in a low key way while Tim Hall’s position as chairman of Mole Valley has also been kept low key.

All local government officials are in “purdah” before the election.

They may not make any statement or comments that could be perceived as favouring one faction over another.

“We take the view that we will not put out any press releases but we will answer direct questions,” said a spokesman for Mole Valley.

In the meantime Councillor Mason is confused about the technicalities surrounding her dual position as mayor and election candidate.

“If you find out, please let me know,” she said.

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