Tories agree to pay artist after legal threat over ‘Bottler Burnham’

The Conservatives have reached a financial settlement with an artist who threatened legal action over the unauthorised use of his Andy Burnham portrait to target the prime minister.

Stanley Chow alleged copyright infringement after the artwork, originally produced for the Labour leader’s Makerfield by-election campaign, was printed onto promotional merchandise for the party’s autumn conference.

His design appeared on water bottles distributed to journalists attending the event, paired alongside the slogans "Bottler Burnham" and "0 per cent strength".

The Conservatives subsequently agreed to provide a £1,000 copyright fee in addition to contributing towards the legal expenses incurred by the artist.

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”.

Alongside the water bottle at the party conference, the Tories were also handing out sweets with the same illustration on it, with ‘Andy Panders’ People Pleaser Pick N Mix’ written underneath.