The Electoral Commission is reviewing Labour’s spending on its “Change” battle bus after Conservative complaints that 24 Labour MPs may have broken election rules by failing to declare visits in their expenses.
The Tories allege that Labour used the bus which featured Deputy Leader Angela Rayner and other senior figures like Lisa Nandy and Anneliese Dodds to give candidates an unfair advantage without proper financial disclosures. Under electoral law, campaign visits must be declared as a “benefit in kind” if they promote an individual candidate, while national party campaigning must be reported to the Electoral Commission.
In a letter to the watchdog, the Conservatives argued that the bus stops effectively functioned as rallies for local candidates, with social media posts supporting their campaigns. Shadow Local Government Secretary Kevin Holinrake accused Labour of failing to follow the rules in tight races and called for a “forensic investigation” involving police.
Labour maintains that all spending was properly declared. The Electoral Commission confirmed it is examining Labour’s national campaign returns but noted that individual candidate spending falls under police jurisdiction.
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