The MP for Chingford and Woodford Green has been posted a decomposing rat in an incident he has described as an ‘unacceptable act of intimidation.’

Iain Duncan Smith, who has held the seat since 1992, condemned the ‘suspect package’ containing a decomposing rat on Twitter.

In a post alongside photos of the package, the former Conservative Party leader said: “Kinder, gentler politics...during #GE2019, not at all.

"In Chingford/Woodford Green we’ve had office graffiti, social media violent abuse/smear tactics.

"Latest: suspect package containing decomposed rat. Campaign volunteers are subjected to these unacceptable acts of intimidation."

On November 25, Mr Duncan Smith’s constituency office was vandalised with anti-Tory graffiti slogans.

On a Facebook post on the MP’s page addressing the vandalism, several abusive comments and threats were posted.

East London and West Essex Guardian Series:

Iain Duncan Smith was the target of graffiti vandalism last month.

A Scotland Yard spokesman said: “Police were called at 9am on Monday, November 25, to graffiti on a premises.

“Officers are investigating and looking at the CCTV records. There has been no arrest. The social media threats have also been passed on the police and are being investigated.”

Chingford and Woodford Green is expected to be closely contested at this year's general election.

On Thursday, Mr Duncan Smith will be contested by Labour’s Faiza Shaheen and Liberal Democrat Geoff Seeff.

In 2017 Mr Duncan Smith’s majority fell from 8,386 to 2,438.

That same year the Green Party, which has stood down its candidate for 2019, secured 1,204 votes.