Tories agree to pay artist who threatened legal action over ‘Burnham Bottler’

Detailed summary

Stanley Chow accused the Conservatives of copyright infringement after his cartoon appeared on merchandise at the party’s conference this autumn

The Tories have agreed to pay an artist who threatened legal action after the party used his portrait of Andy Burnham to mock the Prime Minister.

The illustration was used on water bottles, alongside the words “Bottler Burnham” and “0% strength”, that the Conservatives handed out to journalists attending the event.

Mr Chow said: “After seeing my portrait used by Reform to push messages I fundamentally disagree with, finding it on Conservative conference giveaways was frustrating. This is work I’ve put time and care into, and it’s how I make my living. Artists should have a say in where their work appears and what it’s used to promote.

“I hope this makes political parties – and others – think twice before treating artists’ work as theirs for the taking. You might expect the Conservative Party would want to support Britain’s creative industries – asking an artist’s permission before using their work would be a good place to start.”

A Conservative spokesman said: “The Conservative Party values the importance of intellectual property in the creative industries. We consider this matter closed.”

A party source said the water bottles had sought to highlight what they described as the Prime Minister “ducking big decisions like cutting welfare to fund defence”, and that “sadly for families across the country, these depictions of Andy Burnham remain very real”.

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