Labour were left embarrassed tonight after it was forced to remove a signatory to a letter of support after she was exposed as a benefit cheat who had swindled nearly £30,000 . Campaign chiefs attempted to rebuff a letter from 100 business leaders that criticised the party by publishing its own message calling for a Labour government signed by people ‘ from all walks of life ’ . The signatories , who said they were ‘ all working people ’ , warned about the ‘ proliferation of zero-hours contracts ’ they claimed were ‘ letting down Britain ’ and showed that ‘ we need a Labour Government to put working people first ’ . Labour attempted to rebuff a letter from 100 business leaders that criticised the party by publishing its own message calling for a Labour government signed by people ‘ from all walks of life ’ But within hours the plan was in chaos as it was found the signatories included a benefit fraudster , trade unionists and the cigar-smoking children of millionaires . One of the signatories identified herself as someone who had ‘ worked on [ a ] zero hours contract ’ , but Labour removed her name yesterday after it was revealed she had been convicted of benefit fraud in 2012 . A court in Manchester heard that the woman moved to Britain after she had a ‘ marriage of convenience ’ in Nigeria in December 2007 . According to tax officials she lived with her ‘ husband ’ , who was the holder of a British passport , ‘ briefly or not at all ’ . She was not entitled to benefits as she was subject to ‘ immigration control ’ , but she submitted a tax credits application and a child benefit claim for three children , two of whom didn ’ t live with her . The court heard that she moved in with a new partner but claimed £27,888 tax credits in two and a half years as a single person . David Cameron , visiting pupils during his visit to King 's Leadership Academy in Warrington today , hailed the business letter in support of the Tories . She was caught after she applied for leave to remain in Britain on the basis of her ‘ marriage ’ . Officers found that she had been fraudulently claiming benefits and had allowed others to use her name and national insurance number to work illegally in the UK . In July 2012 she was given a two year suspended jail sentence and a 150-hour community work order after she pleaded guilty to immigration and fraud charges along with her ‘ husband ’ who had been working at HMRC as a security officer . A Labour spokesman last night said : ‘ More than 6,000 people have now signed our letter from all walks of life across the country . Former Red or Dead boss Wayne Hemingway was among the signatories . ‘ Of course we were unaware of the background of this person . The fact still remains that the epidemic of zero hours contracts are a symbol of the failure of this Government 's economic plan. ’ Other signatories included 21-year-old Manchester University students John-Jo Pierce and Rory Somerville . The pair said they were both working on zero hours contracts but their Facebook pages included photographs of them smoking cigars whilst dressed in black tie . Mr Pierce , who is studying maths , is registered on the electoral roll at his parents ’ £1million house in woodland near Leatherhead , Surrey . His mother Deirdre , 55 , yesterday said that he was ‘ just a kid ’ who ‘ knows nothing about politics ’ but had signed the letter after he was asked to by a fellow university student ‘ he vaguely knows ’ . She told the Mail : ‘ All he did was sign a petition that somebody called Andrea asked everybody to sign . He knows a little but not much . It ’ s the first time he ’ s been interested in an election. ’ She declined to discuss what work he was doing on a zero hours contract . Mr Somerville , who is in his final year studying economics , is register to vote at his mother 's house in an affluent area of Belfast . Mr Pierce was also photographed at a party in front of a sign that said ‘ Drugz Room ’ , but Mrs Pierce said that it was just a ‘ joke ’ sign that was a reference to the U.S. television programme Breaking Bad . She said : ‘ John-Jo has never done drugs in his life . It ’ s a joke about Breaking Bad . That ’ s what people of that age do . They all make jokes about Breaking Bad. ’ Mr Somerville did not respond to a request to comment .
Signatory to letter backing Labour was given suspended sentence . Can not be named for legal reasons but Labour has removed her from list . Arrived in UK in December 2007 after 'marriage of convenience ' and claimed benefits . Received £30,000 in benefits even though she was barred from claiming .