Nigel Farage will not be investigated over election spending following watchdog ruling

The Clacton MP has been accused of falsifying election expenses by a former Reform UK councillor, Richard Everett.

Reform previously strongly denied breaking the law on election spending, and accused Mr Everett of being a “disgruntled former councillor” who was expelled from the party “several months ago”.

A letter from the Electoral Commission to Reform UK said: “We did not identify credible evidence of potential offences of electoral law.

“Therefore, our decision is to close our consideration of the matter following initial enquiries and take no further action.”

A spokesman for the Electoral Commission said: “We have responded to (Labour chairwoman) Anna Turley MP’s correspondence which raised questions about Reform UK’s spending at the 2024 general election.

“After carefully considering the information presented in the letter, we did not identify any expenditure relating to Mr Farage’s election campaign in Clacton that should have been declared in Reform UK’s national expenditure.”

Peter Harris, the election agent for Mr Farage in Clacton, said: “This was a politically motivated complaint that has been thoroughly examined and decisively dismissed.

“The facts are clear, the process has been properly followed, and there is no basis for any further allegation, inference, or repetition of these claims.”

Mr Everett had submitted documents to the Metropolitan Police that he claimed showed an overspend.

The files showed that Reform UK came within £400 of the legal spending limit of £20,660 in the Essex seaside town where Mr Farage won his first ever parliamentary seat.

However, Mr Everett claimed that the figure excluded some costs, including leaflets, banners, utility bills and the refurbishment of a blue and teal Reform-themed bar in the campaign office.

The former ally's role within Reform is said to have included the monitoring of election expenses and personally escorting Mr Farage around the Essex constituency during the campaign.

In total, Mr Everett believed Reform UK exceeded the spending limit by around £9,000, but that Mr Farage was "blissfully unaware" of these omissions.

Explaining his accusation, Mr Everett said: "Because of my experience as an agent, I’ve done many of these returns myself, so I know what is meant to be on them.

"In this particular case, there was a spending limit of £20,660.72. So that’s the amount you’re allowed to spend on the election. In this return that Peter Harris has produced, he says that we spent £20,299.80."

Mr Everett continued: "I do not think that that is an accurate figure.

"In fact, I think the £20,660 was exceeded, and the reason why I think that is because of a number of items that were either missing on the return or wrong on the return," he told The Telegraph.

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