Electoral Commission announces investigation into Labour and Tory general election spending

Inquiries come as new figures reveal Tories spent 70 per cent more than Labour during 2017 campaign

‘It is vital that voters are given an opportunity to see accurate and full data on what parties spent money on to influence them at last year’s general election’ (AP)

The Electoral Commission has announced it is investigating Labour, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats in relation to the parties’ spending during the 2017 general election campaign.

The Green Party and Women’s Equality Party are also facing inquiries, the watchdog said, as are anti-Brexit campaign group Best for Britain and the National Union of Teachers (NUT).

New figures revealed by the Commission also revealed the Tories outspent Labour by more than £7m in the run-up to the last election.

The watchdog said Labour, the Greens and the Conservatives are facing questions over “submitting spending returns that were missing invoices and for submitting potentially inaccurate statements of payments made”.

The Tories are also being investigated, along with the Lib Dems, for missing legal deadlines for payments. The law states that suppliers’ claims for payment must be received within 30 days of the election and political parties must be paid within 60 days.

The Women’s Equality Party is accused of “submitting a spending return that was inconsistent with its donation reports”, while Best for Britain is being investigated for not submitting adequate invoices and failing to return a £25,000 donation from an “impermissible donor”. The NUT submitted a spending return that was missing an invoice, the watchdog said.

The investigation is considering whether any party breached the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000. If they are found to have done so, the Electoral Commission said, “appropriate sanctions will be imposed”.

Bob Posner, director of political finance and regulation at the Electoral Commission, said: “It is vital that voters are given an opportunity to see accurate and full reportable data on what parties and campaigners spent money on in order to influence them at last year’s general election.

“This provides transparency in the political finance system and is open for anyone to scrutinise.

“We are investigating possible breaches of the rules. However, our on-going discussions with the major parties indicate to us that they may wish to consider the robustness of their internal governance and level of resourcing to ensure they can deliver what the law requires.”

News of the investigations was announced as the Electoral Commission published spending figures for the 2017 general election.

They reveal that, despite running a widely criticised campaign that resulted in the party losing its parliamentary majority, the Conservatives spent £18.6m compared with Labour’s £11m in the 12 months leading up to the election. The Liberal Democrats’ spending totalled £6.8m, and the SNP’s £1.6m.