Labour List drew attention to some of Sheffield Liberal Democrats' leaflet designs yesterday, mainly noting the absence of the Deputy Prime Minister's name. The flyer above, however, is worth closer examination, as it tips the party's hand on their strategy for tough seats.

At first glance it's hard to see which party the flyer is promoting. In fact, the only thing keeping it on the right side of the law is a roughly 2pt row of text, printed along the leaflet's fold, whispering that it's on behalf of a Mr R Frost.

That's Rob Frost, the Lib Dem candidate for the Crookes constituency, but the words Liberal and Democrat appear nowhere on the leaflet.

Many Lib Dems will be uncomfortable with the flyer's tone, and particularly the sneaky concealment of its author, but Frost has few options at this point in the campaign. On top of the electoral problems that come with being the party on the soggy end of a Coalition, what Lib Dem voters remain are likely to be split. John Hesketh, a long serving councillor for the Lib Dems before being unseated by Labour's Geoff Smith last year, is running as an independent candidate.

This unsportsmanlike behaviour doesn't seem confined to Sheffield. Similar designs have been spotted in Wimbledon and Brent, suggesting the strategy has been planned centrally. Still, it's hard to imagine Sheffield residents responding well to a leaflet so negative, even the party that printed it is ashamed to be associated with it.