Ealing Southall: Police to investigate Tories over leaked postal by-election results

The Conservative Party found itself at the centre of a police investigation last night after allegations a "Tory source" had leaked results of a postal ballot of today's Ealing Southall by-election.

Scotland Yard confirmed it was looking into the case and a police spokesman, when asked about the claims, said: "We've received allegations of possible electoral offences in relation to the Ealing Southall by-election. We take it very seriously and appropriate action will be taken." The spokesman declined to be drawn on who had made the allegations or how the Conservatives had reacted.

Related articles

• Leading article: A test of the national temperature
• Sedgefield: Battle for second place is key in Blair's ultra-safe seat
• The Sketch: Wading through the Brown stuff
• Search the news archive for more stories

The Daily Telegraph diarist Jonathan Isaby, known for his connections with the Conservative party, posted details of the postal ballot on his blog last night. He wrote: "[A] source inside the Tory campaign [in Ealing] reports that it was looking incredibly close, with them calculating the main parties' tallies as follows: ..."

The blog then listed the early results. Soon afterwards, the posting was removed from the website.

By law, political parties are allowed representatives to oversee the validation process, however any release of an indication of how the vote is going is strictly prohibited on the grounds that it could influence subsequent votes. The offence is punishable by up to six months in prison.

The Conservative party was unavailable for comment last night.

The news of the investigation is the latest twist in the by-election saga, as the leaders of the three major political parties face their first major electoral test since Gordon Brown took over as Prime Minister.

The stakes are high for Mr Brown, David Cameron and Sir Menzies Campbell with voters also going to the polls in Sedgefield, the seat vacated by Tony Blair last month. The parties have fought intense campaigns in the two seats which have become a crucial test of leadership for all three men.

Labour's substantial majorities in both Southall and Sedgefield would make defeat in either seat a political disaster for Mr Brown, who has enjoyed a significant bounce in the polls since he took the keys to No 10 three weeks ago. However, the race for second and third placing will be equally important. Mr Cameron needs a creditable poll showing to boost his attempts to change the Tory fortunes.

Sir Menzies needs to cut into Labour's majorities to face down unrest about his leadership and has been warned that he will face pressure to quit if the Liberal Democrats slump to third place in the two polls.

In Southall, where the by-election was prompted by the death of the Labour MP Piara Khabra, all three parties have poured vast resources into the seat. Sir Menzies has made seven visits to the west London suburb, and Mr Cameron has also made several trips there. Yesterday, Sir Menzies was joined by most of the party's MPs and busloads of activists. Conservative big-hitters included David Davis, the shadow Home Secretary, Francis Maude, the party chairman, and Shadow Cabinet members Chris Grayling, Andrew Lansley and Peter Ainsworth.

2005 result

Ealing Southall:

P Khabra (Lab) 22,937

N Bakhai (Lib Dem) 11,497

M Nicholson (Con) 10,147

S Edwards (Green) 2,175

Labour majority: 11,440