Tory MPs broke election laws over battlebus spending
The Conservative Party has been fined a record £70,000 by the Electoral Commission for failing to accurately report its election expenses.
In 2015 candidates failed to declare spending for a 'battlebus' that took volunteers to marginal seats including Dudley South and Cannock Chase, according to the watchdog.
The party insists its failure to report expenses was the result of an 'administrative error'.
It comes after it emerged 12 police forces - including Staffordshire - had sent files to the Crown Prosecution Service relating to the election spending of up to 20 Tory MPs.
Cannock Chase , which was won by 4,923 votes by Tory MP Amanda Milling, was visited by the battlebus - dubbed Battlebus2015 - in the final weeks of the campaign.
Reports suggest Ms Milling's expenses contained an estimated overspend in excess of £1,000. She did not respond to the Express & Star's request for comment.
The Electoral Commission said the Conservative Party recorded the cost of Battlebus2015 as general party expenditure rather than as part of campaigns to elect the individual candidates.
This was wrong, the report said, adding: "Coaches of activists were transported to marginal constituencies to campaign alongside or in close proximity to local campaigners.
"In the Commission’s view, there was a clear and inherent risk that activists might engage in candidate campaigning. Further, it is apparent that candidate campaigning did take place during the Battlebus2015 campaign."
According to the commission, the total recorded cost of the battlebus was £38,996.06, including the volunteers’ accommodation, coach travel and subsistence.
It said the Conservative Party also failed to maintain records explaining the amounts it invoiced to candidates in three 2014 by-elections, meaning the accuracy of the amounts could not be verified.
The party’s 2015 UK Parliamentary general election spending return was missing payments worth at least £104,765.
And the party did not include the required invoices or receipts for 81 payments to the value of £52,924, the report added.
A Conservative Party spokesman said: "This investigation and these fines relate to national spending by CCHQ, and the Conservative Party's national spending return for the 2015 general election.
"As we have consistently said, the local agents of Conservative candidates correctly declared all local spending in the 2015 general election.
"CCHQ accepted in March 2016 that it had made an administrative error by not declaring a small amount constituting 0.6 per cent of our national spending in the 2015 election campaign.
"Political parties of all colours have made reporting mistakes from time to time... this is the first time the Conservative Party has been fined for a reporting error.
"We regret that and will continue to keep our internal processes under review to ensure this does not happen again.
"Given the range of technical errors made by a number of political parties and campaign groups, there also needs to be a review of how the Electoral Commission's processes and requirements could be clarified or improved."
The other police forces that have sent files to the CPS are: Avon and Somerset, Cumbria, Derbyshire, Devon and Cornwall, Gloucestershire, Greater Manchester, Lincolnshire, London, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire and West Yorkshire.
The CPS is set to decide on whether any charges will be brought.
