Prospective MSPs are legally required to evidence their election spending and confirm the records are correct. Following an investigation by The Ferret, Police Scotland is examining whether nine Reform UK candidates failed to do so.
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Prospective MSPs are legally required to evidence their election spending and confirm the records are correct. Following an investigation by The Ferret, Police Scotland is examining whether nine Reform UK candidates failed to do so.
Police are assessing whether a number of Reform UK candidates who ran to become Holyrood MSPs broke election spending rules, The Ferret can reveal.
Four candidates representing Nigel Farage’s party at the Scottish Parliament elections apparently did not submit returns detailing how much they spent during their campaigns and the value of their donations.
A further five who did submit returns apparently failed to sign off on their spending properly, our investigation has found.
All other candidates for all other parties complied with the rules.
Commenting on the findings, a Police Scotland spokesman said: “Information has been received and is being assessed.”
It comes as the Metropolitan Police announced last month that it was launching a criminal investigation into claims that senior figures in the party breached foreign donation rules. The party’s own internal investigation found it had not broken the law.
Now, its spending at the Holyrood election is under scrutiny, as campaigners and opposition parties have demanded the party “provide full transparency” over its campaign costs.
According to electoral law, all candidates must supply officials with records of any donations they receive worth more than £50, as well as spending on campaigning activities and materials, including leaflets, public meetings and social media advertising.
For the Scottish parliament elections which took place in May, the deadline for these submissions was 15 June.
Our analysis shows four Reform UK candidates who ran for MSP constituency seats have failed to submit their campaign spending or disclose donations over £50.
Jamie Mann
Although none of these candidates secured enough votes to win a seat, they each amassed thousands of votes.
David McLennan, who became Reform’s first councillor in Scotland after winning the Whitburn and Blackburn election last year achieved 22.5 per cent in Bathgate, West Lothian.
Meanwhile, Dan Clarke took 22 per cent of the votes in Clydesdale, South Lanarkshire, Malcolm Jones won 19 per cent in Almond Valley, West Lothian, and Sean O'Hagan secured 16 per cent in Glasgow Anniesland.
Even if they did not spend any money on their campaigns or receive any donations, they are required to provide their local returning officers with a submission, unless they have “an authorised excuse”, according to the Electoral Commission.
Candidates must also sign a declaration confirming information they have filed is accurate to the best of their knowledge.
Our audit shows five Reform UK candidates who ran in Edinburgh-based constituencies - David Lees, Andrew McLaughlin, Cameron Rose, Davie Thomson and Charles Turner – failed to submit these documents.
The City of Edinburgh Council confirmed that five out of six Reform UK contenders who ran for constituency seats in their area did not submit the declaration to returning officers.
However, it said all of those five candidates provided their spending returns, and submitted declarations for their separate campaigns on the Edinburgh regional list.
The Electoral Commission confirmed that parties are responsible for the money spent on regional campaigns. However, if a candidate also stands in a constituency, as the five Reform UK candidates did, their agent must submit spending returns for both contests.
Both the candidate and their agent must also sign declarations to say the information about spending in the constituency contest is accurate.
Returns must be submitted to the local returning officer in the council area they ran in within 35 days of the declaration of the result – in this case 15 June – unless they have a valid excuse for not doing so.
Returning officers then send the information to the Electoral Commission, which publishes the headline results for the public to inspect.
‘Democratic duty’
Juliet Swann, nations and regions manager at Transparency International UK said: “Clarity on political finance is vital to understanding influence and is a crucial part of the democratic process. And limits on spending establish a level playing field so votes cannot be bought.
“Spending returns both expose potential breaches of expenditure limits and show who a candidate may be indebted to. Complying with the rules on political finance is not an optional extra, it is a legal requirement and a democratic duty.”
Scottish Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie said The Ferret’s investigation “raises serious questions for Reform UK”.
“Reform has repeatedly shown a complete disregard for following the rules that apply to us all”, she claimed. The party must “provide full transparency about the spending on their Holyrood campaign,” added Baillie.
Liberal Democrat MSP Willie Rennie claimed “the reek of sleaze off Reform is unavoidable” and said their behaviour reflected “a cavalier approach to the rules that’s beneath the dignity of public service”.
“It only adds to the case for immediate and urgent action to strengthen sanctions for those who violate rules meant to safeguard the integrity of Scottish democracy.”
The Electoral Commission said neither the elections watchdog nor the returning officers who oversee elections, have responsibility for verifying the completeness or accuracy of candidates’ spending returns.
The commission’s website says that while it reviews returns to monitor compliance with the law, “the police are responsible for dealing with any potential breaches”.
Reform UK did not respond to a request to comment. Attempts were made to contact all of the party’s candidates mentioned.
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