Police issue update over Nigel Farage ‘election fraud’ allegations

The allegations were made by a former Reform councillor.

On Monday, the party were accused of falsifying Farage's election expenses during his campaign to become Clacton MP last year.

The allegations have been made by Richard Everett, a former member of Farage’s campaign team who has previously served as a Reform UK councillor.

He told the Telegraph he believes Reform exceeded the £20,660 spending limit set by electoral law in the Essex constituency and failed to declare some costs.

He accused the party of overspending by around £9,000 but that Farage had been “blissfully unaware” of this.

Reform deny the claims, with a party spokesperson said the "inaccurate claims come from a disgruntled former councillor".

Everett submitted documents to the Metropolitan Police, with the case having since been transferred to Essex Police.

In an update on Monday afternoon, the force confirmed they were assessing the allegations.

In a statement, police said: "We are assessing a report relating to alleged misreported expenditure by a political party in connection with the 2024 general election, following a referral to us by the Met.”

The Telegraph reports that Everett will be interviewed by police over the allegations.

Everett alleged that Reform failed to declare spending on some leaflets, banners, utility bills and the refurbishment of a bar in the constituency office.

Last summer, Farage won the Clacton constituency with a majority of more than 8,000.

Reform are facing pressure from both Labour and the Conservatives over the allegations.

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.”

Meanwhile, Conservative chairman Kevin Hollinrake called on the police and the Electoral Commission to investigate Mr Everett’s claims.

He said: “We all have an obligation to play by the rules to ensure that our elections are free and fair.”

A Reform spokesman said: “These inaccurate claims come from a disgruntled former councillor. The party denies breaking electoral law.”

“We look forward to clearing our name,” they added.

The allegations come in the wake of claims that Farage made racist and anti-semitic comments while he was a pupil at Dulwich College.

He has denied this, saying he would “never, ever do it in a hurtful or insulting way”.