AN MP has accused headteachers of breaking the law by sending out letters and messages online to try and influence how parents voted in the General Election.

Henry Smith, MP for Crawley, claims that schools in Sussex and across the country sent “party political messages” to parents before last month’s election, which in his opinion is “both against the law and misleading”.

One letter from the Worth Less? Campaign warning of the “dreadful state” of education funding under Prime Minister Theresa May was sent to parents by headteachers from 3,000 schools across 14 counties.

St Wilfrid’s Catholic School in Crawley sent out an anti-Tory tweet on April 21, saying: ‘What about education, mental health services, the NHS, social care, still voting Conservative?”

Mr Smith, whose majority in the recent election was cut from more than 6,500 to 2,457, said: “It’s unacceptable for schools to use publicly funded resources to send out party political messages of how parents should vote.

“Robust debate on the future of education is an important and emotive subject but pretending to be impartial and then promoting a political message written by the unions using taxpayer funding on official school letterheads is both against the law and misleading.”

Official legal guidance states that during ‘purdah’ – the period between an election being called and polling day – schools must not seek to use public resources to give any one party an advantage over another.

Mr Smith supported his party’s education policies, stating that after a funding shake-up Crawley schools would pick up an extra 8.4 per cent – or £5.7million in funding.

A spokesman for the Worth Less? campaign said: “For two years headteachers have campaigned for improved school funding for pupils and their families.

“Independently verified facts provided to parents over this time have been entirely undisputed and we remain grateful for the universal parental support that we have received in return.”

A spokesman for St Wilfrid’s Catholic School said the tweet was sent in error.

The Department for Education has said the core schools budget has been protected in real terms since 2010.

However, the Institute for Fiscal Studies said rising student numbers and inflation would lead to real-terms cuts.

Tory MPs losing their seats in Sussex after the election included Treasury minister Simon Kirby in Brighton Kemptown and Caroline Ansell in Eastbourne.