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Q&A: what is the Conservative election expenses row about? Q&A: what is the Conservative election expenses row about?
(about 4 hours later)
The row centres on the Tories’ use of an election battlebus to campaign in key seats during the 2015 general election. Each party is allowed to spend about £15,000 in each constituency on an allowance that’s calculated on a population basis. It is claimed that the Conservatives allocated thousands of pounds spent on the battlebus as national spending when it was used to re-elect specific MPs. The row centres on the Conservative party’s use of a battlebus to campaign in key seats during the 2015 general election. Each party is allowed to spend about £15,000 in each constituency on an allowance that is calculated on a population basis.
It is claimed the Conservatives allocated thousands of pounds spent on the battlebus as national spending when it was used to re-elect specific MPs.
The Electoral Commission has fined the party a record £70,000 and reported its former treasurer to the police after an investigation found “significant failures” by the party to report its campaign spending.
How many MPs are under the spotlight?How many MPs are under the spotlight?
The campaigns to re-elect up to 20 MPs are believed to have been under investigation by their local police forces. They include Craig Mackinlay, who defeated Nigel Farage in South Thanet. He was understood to have been interviewed by police last weekend for six hours. It emerged on Wednesday that 12 forces have sent files to the Crown Prosecution Service. The campaigns to re-elect up to 20 MPs are believed to have been under investigation by their local police forces. They include Craig Mackinlay, who defeated Nigel Farage in South Thanet, Kent. He was understood to have been interviewed by police last weekend for six hours. It emerged on Wednesday that 12 forces have sent files to the Crown Prosecution Service.
How bad could this get for the Conservatives?How bad could this get for the Conservatives?
This could result, in theory, in contests being rerun and the prospect of a series of byelections for a prime minister with a 17-seat majority and tricky Brexit negotiations to navigate. Tory MPs are worried it has dragged on for so long, and hope they will be able to clear their names well before the next general election. The Tories are particularly worried about South Thanet, where Mackinlay beat Farage by 2,000 votes in a contest the Tories were desperate to win. The campaign return came in at under the £15,000 local limit, imposed to ensure a level playing field. But it has been claimed another £18,000 was spent at nearby hotels. This could result, in theory, in contests being rerun and the prospect of a series of byelections for a prime minister with a 17-seat majority and tricky Brexit negotiations to navigate. Tory MPs are worried it has dragged on for so long, and hope they will be able to clear their names well before the next general election. The Tories are particularly worried about South Thanet, where Mackinlay beat Farage by 2,000 votes in a contest the Tories were desperate to win.
The campaign return was under the £15,000 local limit, imposed to ensure a level playing field. But it has been claimed another £18,000 was spent at nearby hotels.
Overall, the Electoral Commission found the party failed to declare or accurately report more than £275,000 of campaign spending at three byelections in 2014 and at the 2015 general election.
The spending return for the UK general election was missing payments worth at least £104,765 and payments worth up to £118,124 were either not reported to the commission or were incorrectly reported by the party. Invoices and receipts were missing for £52,924 worth of payments.
Does the CPS’s involvement mean there is evidence of criminality?Does the CPS’s involvement mean there is evidence of criminality?
No. It means that police believe there is a case to consider. Until now, the CPS’s lawyers have communicated with police forces investigating claims through the National Police Chiefs Council but have not examined any of the evidence or testimony from witnesses or suspects. Lawyers within the CPS’s special crime unit will now decide if there is a “realistic prospect of conviction”. They have until June, two years after the alleged breach, to consider the files. No. It means police believe there is a case to consider. Until now, the CPS’s lawyers have communicated with police forces investigating claims through the National Police Chiefs Council but have not examined any of the evidence or testimony from witnesses or suspects. Lawyers within the CPS’s special crime unit will now decide if there is a “realistic prospect of conviction”. They have until June, two years after the alleged breach, to consider the files.
Could the government be ousted and elections rerun over these claims?Could the government be ousted and elections rerun over these claims?
Possible, but highly unlikely. Even if a breach of spending limits is proved in any of these cases, it would not necessarily mean a new election would have to be held. An election court could declare the election void, but if criminal charges were brought an MP would be disqualified only if they were sentenced to prison. In the only recent case, Fiona Jones, the then Labour MP for Newark, was found guilty of fraud in 1999 for failing to declare her full election costs, but her conviction was overturned on appeal.Possible, but highly unlikely. Even if a breach of spending limits is proved in any of these cases, it would not necessarily mean a new election would have to be held. An election court could declare the election void, but if criminal charges were brought an MP would be disqualified only if they were sentenced to prison. In the only recent case, Fiona Jones, the then Labour MP for Newark, was found guilty of fraud in 1999 for failing to declare her full election costs, but her conviction was overturned on appeal.
If a court were to decide that hotel or battlebus costs should have been declared as constituency spending, what is most likely to happen, according to the respected legal blogger David Allen Green, is that national parties would have to pay large fines. The Tories claim that other parties should also be scrutinised by the police for election expense irregularities during the general election. They claim that 13 Labour candidates received visits from Harriet Harman’s “pink bus” but did not declare this in their local returns, with the cost instead included in the national return; that the Lib Dems used an election battle bus to transport activists to constituencies which was not included in the candidates’ returns; and that the SNP leader, Nicola Sturgeon, “used a helicopter to campaign for SNP candidates in 12 target constituencies – at a cost of £35,000”. If a court were to decide that hotel or battlebus costs should have been declared as constituency spending, what is most likely to happen, according to the respected legal blogger David Allen Green, is that national parties would have to pay large fines. The Tories claim other parties should also be scrutinised by the police for election expense irregularities during the general election. They claim 13 Labour candidates received visits from Harriet Harman’s “pink bus” but did not declare this in their local returns, with the cost instead included in the national return; that the Lib Dems used an election battlebus to transport activists to constituencies which was not included in the candidates’ returns; and that the SNP leader, Nicola Sturgeon, “used a helicopter to campaign for SNP candidates in 12 target constituencies – at a cost of £35,000”.