Leaflets from the Liberal Democrats in Crystal Palace have come under fire for using questionable graphs.

Social news company BuzzFeed listed a number of posters which “might not stand up to scrutiny” in areas across the country.

It says Nick Clegg’s party “built its electoral success by positioning itself as the ‘only alternative’” to competitors, with the Lib Dems vying for support to keep either Labour or the Tories out.

As in Crystal Palace’s flyers, the site has underlined graphics suggesting a tight a tight two-horse race, where the third main political frontrunner has no chance of election.

But the site’s reporter believes many fail to paint an accurate picture, before also highlighting the use of other techniques.

Looking at the leaflets distributed in Crystal Palace, he notes: “This isn’t a hard one. 18 per cent is more than half of 32 per cent, so the blue bar needs to go more than halfway up the red bar.”

The leaflet image
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Bromley’s local elections take place on May 22, with Crystal Palace marking the borough’s most westerly borders.

The Lib Dems’ popularity appears to have dwindled in recent years following Nick Clegg’s decision to join up with David Cameron’s Conservatives to form the country’s current coalition government in 2010.

They currently hold four seats (down from seven in 2006) and are only contesting 47 this time round – in 2010 they contested 59, while in 2006 they contested 60.