Boris Johnson could face an official probe into Tory spending on the Hartlepool by-election, after Labour wrote to the Electoral Commission to demand an investigation into the prime minister’s use of a taxpayer-funded jet to travel to the north-east for a campaign visit.
Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner urged Commission chief executive Bob Posner to probe whether rules on election spending were broken – and to report any breaches to the police.
Questions were raised over Mr Johnson’s 1 April visit to the constituency to campaign for Tory candidate Jill Mortimer, after it emerged that the Conservative party recorded “nil” spending on the PM’s travel, despite him having flown by jet from London to Teesside Airport.
Labour have already unsuccessfully called for an inquiry by Mr Johnson’s independent ethics adviser Lord Geidt, arguing that the ministerial code makes clear that official transport should not be used for party business, and that the cost should be split between the taxpayer and party if a trip involves political and official engagements.
But Downing Street and the Conservatives insist no rules were broken, as the jet was used to fly Mr Johnson to the north-east for an official visit to Middlesbrough, while the PM travelled from Middlesbrough to Hartlepool in his official car, as he is permitted to for security reasons.
Mr Johnson’s visit – along with later trips to Hartlepool ahead of the 6 May poll – was credited with assisting Tory candidate Jill Mortimer with seizing the north-east coastal constituency from Labour for the first time since its creation, achieving a stunning 23 per cent swing which led to questions about the future of Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer.
Electoral Commission guidance states that the cost of transport that is paid for or reimbursed by a political party or third party should be included in spending returns. Transport costs include the cost of transporting volunteers, party members, staff members or other campaigners around the electoral area or to and from the electoral area where they are undertaking campaigning on behalf of the candidate.
In her letter to Mr Posner, Ms Rayner called for an investigation “to get to the bottom of whether any wrongdoing has taken place, including any further dodgy deals involving Conservative Party donors secretly paying off or reimbursing the Conservative Party or the public purse and/or clearing the prime minister’s debts from billing the taxpayer”.
Rayner also asked the Electoral Commission to “refer to the police any evidence of illegal and criminal behaviour in breach of the Representation of the People Act, including but not limited to the non-declaration of election expenses and donations in kind, the submission of false returns and any other wrongdoing”.
When the jet flight initially came to light earlier this week, a No 10 spokesperson said: “The prime minister visited Teesside on official Government business, meeting workers to coincide with an increase in the national living wage. This was followed by a short political visit, as permitted by the ministerial code.
“All relevant costs have been correctly accounted for and appropriately proportioned. At all times government rules and electoral requirements have been followed in relation to ministerial visits.”
A Conservative spokesperson said: “CCHQ (Conservative Campaign Headquarters) covered all relevant costs associated with the political visit on 1April in accordance with the ministerial code and reported relevant candidate spending in accordance with the Representation of the People’s Act 1983.”
