Tories call for police to expand election expenses probe over Angela Rayner’s battle bus_Nhy
A police investigation into Angela Rayner‘s election battle bus could draw on Electoral Commission documents to establish whether any offences were committed.
After The Mail on Sunday revealed last week that the bus used by the Deputy Prime Minister during last year’s campaign is at the centre of a ‘substantial and detailed complaint’ to Lancashire Police, Tory minister Kevin Hollinrake has written to Vijay Rangarajan, the Commission’s chief executive, to say five Labour candidates did not declare the cost of the bus in their expenses.
Those found guilty of failing to register election expenses could face up to a year in jail.
Mr Hollinrake writes: ‘The Electoral Commission holds the national spending return of the Labour Party. This will indicate how much money was spent on the battle bus as a whole.
‘I would correspondingly request that the relevant information is passed to Lancashire Police to review, and assist them in deciding whether to expand the scope of their current investigation.’
He adds: ‘I believe a thorough investigation by both the police and Electoral Commission is needed into what could be the tip of the iceberg.’
A Labour spokesman said: ‘The Labour Party is completely confident that all the relevant declarations have been made with regards to the battle bus.’
Lancashire Police says it is ‘in the process of assessing the information provided to confirm if any criminal offences have taken place’.
A police investigation into Angela Rayner’s election battle bus (pictured) could draw on Electoral Commission documents to establish whether any offences were committed
After The Mail on Sunday revealed last week that the bus used by the Deputy Prime Minister during last year’s campaign is at the centre of a ‘substantial and detailed complaint’ to Lancashire Police, Tory minister Kevin Hollinrake (pictured) has written to the Commission’s chief executive to say five Labour candidates did not declare the bus cost in their expenses
Officers are examining claims that the cost of a visit to Labour MP Lizzi Collinge’s constituency by Ms Rayner on the battle bus (pictured) should have been included in Ms Collinge’s expenses
It comes after The Mail on Sunday revealed last week that the Labour battle bus used by the Deputy Prime Minister during last year’s General Election is at the centre of a police investigation into alleged expenses irregularities.
Lancashire Police are looking into a ‘substantial and detailed complaint’ about election expenses that were submitted by Labour MP Lizzi Collinge, who won the seat of Morecambe and Lunesdale.
She declared that she had spent £18,446.96 – under the allowed limit of just over £20,000.
But officers are examining claims that the cost of a visit to the constituency by Ms Rayner on the battle bus should have been included in the total.
The police are also examining a failure in other battleground seats to declare the cost of the bus, which racked up 5,000 miles during Labour’s campaign.
Failing to register all election expenses is a crime. Local spending limits vary depending on the number of voters in the constituency and whether it is a rural or urban area.
The case echoes the investigation into the Tory battle bus used in the 2015 campaign, which led to a failed prosecution of Tory MP Craig Mackinlay over the South Thanet contest against Nigel Farage.
Tory HQ had classed the huge cost of the scheme as a national expense, even though the campaigning was at a local level.
The police are also examining a failure in other battleground seats to declare the cost of the bus (pictured), which racked up 5,000 miles during Labour’s campaign
Shadow levelling up secretary Mr Hollinrake (pictured) wrote to the Electoral Commission: ‘I believe a thorough investigation by both the police and Electoral Commission is needed into what could be the tip of the iceberg’
The case of the Labour battle bus (pictured) echoes the investigation into the Tory battle bus used in the 2015 campaign, which led to a failed prosecution of Tory MP Craig Mackinlay over the South Thanet contest against Nigel Farage
The RoadTrip 2015 battle bus campaign was the idea of activist Mark Clarke, dubbed the ‘Tatler Tory’, who told then chairman Grant Shapps he could target key marginal seats by bussing in young activists. The trips became synonymous with tales of hard drinking, sex and partying.
The complaint about Ms Rayner’s bus centres on a visit to Morecambe and Lunesdale with other shadow ministers on June 4 last year which was reportedly not included in Ms Collinge’s return.
A Labour spokesman said: ‘Ms Collinge has made all the relevant declarations with regards to her election and unless any evidence can be presented to suggest this is not the case, it would be wrong to suggest otherwise’.
Lancashire Police said: ‘We received a complaint in December about alleged irregularities in the campaign in the Morecambe and Lunesdale constituency.
‘We are in the process of assessing the information provided to confirm if any criminal offences have taken place.’
