The Conservatives have demanded that the elections watchdog begin inquiries into other political parties over alleged undeclared expenses during the general election campaign.
The backbench Tory MP Charles Walker has written to the Electoral Commission claiming that Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the Scottish National party appear to have treated travel costs as national expenditure instead of local costs.
The letter has been sent as the commission and at least 16 police forces examine claims that the Conservatives failed to properly declare hundreds of thousands of pounds spent on accommodation and travel during the last election.
It has led to claims that the party effectively bought seats by bussing activists into areas with marginal seats and then putting them up in hotels. The elections of more than 20 Tory MPs are reportedly at the centre of the police probes.
The letter will be seen as a way of putting pressure on the commission to launch similar investigations into other parties.
Senior Lib Dem sources claimed that it makes factually incorrect claims and is a deliberate attempt to scupper inquiries into the Tories.
Under election laws, any costs incurred to promote a candidate must be declared on local candidate spending returns. It is a criminal offence to knowingly make a false declaration.
Walker has written to the commission urging it to “clarify its guidance” about the rules governing travel expenses during election campaigns.
He pointed out that Labour and the Lib Dems appear to have declared bus expenditure as national costs and also highlighted Nicola Sturgeon’s use of a helicopter to travel to battleground seats as SNP leader.
He said that if the commission failed to examine the Labour, Lib Dem and SNP campaigns it could give the impression it was “behaving in a way that could lead to it being accused of political bias”.
The Broxbourne MP wrote to the Electoral Commission chairwoman, Jenny Watson, saying she should examine other parties’ declarations “with a view to clarifying the guidance on local and national election spending”.
Walker claimed that:
- Thirteen 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.
- The Lib Dems reportedly used an election battle bus to transport activists to constituencies including Chippenham, which was not included in the return of their candidate, Duncan Hames. Walker said: “I suspect he was advised by his party that such a declaration was not necessary.”
- The “Labour Express” campaign transported activists across the country, including to Ealing Central and Acton, where the candidate Rupa Huq did not record it as part of her spending return “again probably because she was advised that she did not need to by her party”, according to Walker.
- Sturgeon “used a helicopter to campaign for SNP candidates in 12 target constituencies – at a cost of £35,000”, Walker said.
Critics will point out that the scale of the alleged overspend by the Conservatives – and the fact that it is directly connected through documents first obtained by Channel 4 to party headquarters – has drawn the close attention of the commission.
Channel 4 News claimed that the Tories booked more than 2,408 hotel rooms, many of which were not declared properly. And in March, the Daily Mirror raised serious questions about the Conservative party’s use of buses to transport activists into marginal seats.
A fleet of coaches was used by the party to parachute dozens of volunteer activists into 29 key marginal seats across the country, putting them up in hotels, and visiting one constituency each day, in the final 10 days before the vote.
In response to Walker’s claims, a Lib Dem spokesman said: “The party leader’s tour bus certainly did visit the Chippenham constituency during last year’s general election. This is a bus that transports the leader, staff and journalists around the country during the election. All parties, including the Conservatives, allocate this tour bus to national expenses.
“The leader’s tour is entirely different to the series of complaints facing the Conservatives, who paid for numerous buses to take an army of activists to specifically campaign, deliver leaflets and knock on doors in individual constituencies. Transport and expenses for these activists should appear in local expenses. That is the substantive issue for investigation, not the buses in which [David] Cameron, [Ed] Miliband or Nick Clegg travelled the country.”
A Labour spokesperson said: “This was part of a nationally branded tour so the transport costs are rightly national spend. Labour’s spending is within the law and the rules set out by the Electoral Commission.”
An Electoral Commission spokesman said: “We have received correspondence from Charles Walker MP and are considering its contents before responding in due course.
“The commission’s role is to regulate national party spending. Allegations surrounding candidate spending returns are a matter for the police to investigate and there are a number of ongoing investigations. The commission has been calling since 2013 for the power to regulate candidate spending.”