A former Reform councillor has alleged that Nigel Farage may have gone over his Clacton campaign spending limit by as much as £9,000
Nigel Farage has been hit by another scandal after being reported to the police by a former member of his campaign team over claims he falsified election expenses.
Farage has been accused of recording local campaign spending in Clacton in the run-up to the General Election as national party expenses, a move that would breach electoral law.
According to the Telegraph, Richard Everett, a former Reform councillor and member of Farage’s campaign team, has handed over documents demonstrating that the party exceeded the £20,660 spending threshold in Clacton.
Everett alleges that Reform excluded several costs from its official returns, including expenses incurred from refurbishing a Reform-themed bar in the campaign office. He said he believes the party underreported or misreported as much as £9,000 in expenses.
In addition, he said that the party did not include the cost of some leaflets featuring the Reform leader’s face and the names of local wards in the local spending figure.
The ex-Reform councillor also said that the party failed to declare the loan of an armoured Land Rover, which Farage used during his last campaign rally on Clacton Pier, as a donation.
The Telegraph has seen a signed declaration which shows that Farage personally certified his candidate spending after the election.
Everett is a former election agent, and said he has done many election spending returns. “Because of my experience as an agent […], I know what is meant to be on them,” he said.
He said that Peter Harris, who Reform has recently selected as its candidate for Mayor of Greater Essex, reported that the party spent £20,299.80, which is just under the spending limit.
However, Everett told the Telegraph: “I do not think that that is an accurate figure. In fact, I think the £20,660 was exceeded, and the reason why I think that is because of a number of items that were either missing on the return or wrong on the return.”
Labour Party chairwoman Anna Turley said: “Nigel Farage needs to urgently answer serious questions about whether he broke the law and misled the public when standing for election to Parliament.
“Our parliamentary democracy relies on people playing by the rules so all candidates have a fair hearing with the public.
“Nigel Farage must come clean and put all the evidence on the table to prove he hasn’t undermined our democracy by breaking the rules. Failure to do so will raise even more questions about what he has to hide.”
Reform has dismissed the matter, with a spokesperson saying that the claims are “inaccurate” and “come from a disgruntled former councillor”.
Everett defected from the Tories to Reform last year, but has since left the party and is now an Independent councillor. Reform claims Everett was suspended in August for sexual misconduct.
Everett denies this.
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
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