Last week Essex Police said they would not investigate the matter because more than a year had passed since the alleged offence.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n
The election agent for Nigel Farage in Clacton Peter Harris said the complaint had been “politically motivated”. <\/p>\n
“The facts are clear, the process has been properly followed, and there is no basis for any further allegation, inference, or repetition of these claims,” Mr Harris added. <\/p>\n
In a letter, the commission said it had “not identified any omissions of expenditure that ought to have been declared” in Farage’s campaign for his Clacton constituency.<\/p>\n
It added: “We did not identify credible evidence of potential offences of electoral law. <\/p>\n
“Therefore, our decision is to close our consideration of the matter following initial enquiries and take no further action.”<\/p>\n
The claims of wrongdoing against Nigel Farage and his party were made by ex-Reform campaigner Richard Everett.<\/p>\n
He alleged the party failed to declare spending on some leaflets, banners, utility bills and the refurbishment of a bar in the Clacton constituency office.<\/p>\n
Documents were passed to the Metropolitan Police, which transferred the case to Essex Police.<\/p>\n
Earlier this week an Essex Police spokeswoman said: “Any prosecution for such an offence must commence within one year.”<\/p>\n
She said an “allegation around misreported expenditure by a political candidate” in July 2024 was made on 5 December.<\/p>\n
“It has been concluded that this report falls outside of the stated statutory time limit, and no investigation can take place,” the spokeswoman added.<\/p>\n
Farage took over as leader of Reform UK in June 2024, about a month before the general election.<\/p>\n
He went on to win the seat of Clacton in Essex from the Conservatives with a majority of more than 8,000.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
#evidence #Reform #broke #electoral #law #watchdog<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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