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Nigel Farage has avoided a police investigation into claims his general election campaign breached electoral law last year because too much time has passed since the alleged offences.
The Reform UK leader may still face sanction by the Electoral Commission over claims his campaign exceeded spending limits after the watchdog said it was carrying out its own assessment of the claims.
“We have assessed a report relating to an allegation around misreported expenditure by a political candidate in connection with the general election in July 2024,” Essex police said.
It said the report was made on 5 December. “Having regard to the Representation of the People Act 1983, which states any prosecution for such an offence must commence within one year, it has been concluded that this report falls outside of the stated statutory time limit, and no investigation can take place.”
The news came after a whistleblower told the Daily Telegraph that Reform had failed to declare spending on leaflets, banners, utility bills and refurbishment of a bar in its Clacton campaign office.
On Wednesday, the Labour party chair, Anna Turley, called on Farage to “urgently come out of hiding” and explain whether his party spent more than the £20,660 limit for campaigning in a letter to the Electoral Commission.
“If expenditure that ought to have been declared in Mr Farage’s return in Clacton has been included in Reform’s national spending return, or elements of national party expenditure have not been declared at all, there is a real risk that Reform’s party spending return is inaccurate or incomplete, which is a matter for the Electoral Commission,” Turley wrote.
A Reform spokesperson previously denied the allegations, saying: “The party denies breaking electoral law. We look forward to clearing our name.”
But Turley has urged Farage to address the allegations personally, saying they were “incredibly serious” and claiming that he is “treating the British people with contempt by staying silent – he needs to urgently come out of hiding on this issue”.
The Conservative chair, Kevin Hollinrake, has previously said: “We all have an obligation to play by the rules to ensure that our elections are free and fair.”
Farage has been facing multiple crises – chief among them allegations of overt racism during his schooldays, as well as by party colleagues more recently.
On Wednesday, 26 of his peers at Dulwich college condemned him for what they described as his refusal to acknowledge his behaviour at Dulwich college and criticised him for saying their allegations about his past behaviour were politically motivated.
Reform described the allegations as a “witch-hunt” and “an attempt to discredit Reform and Nigel Farage”. “Instead of debating Reform on the substance of our ideas and policies, the leftwing media and deeply unpopular Labour party are now using 50-year-old smears in a last act of desperation. The British public see right through it,” a spokesperson said.
Farage has also been urged to sack one of his party’s mayoral candidates after it emerged he said the deputy prime minister, David Lammy, should “go home” to the Caribbean. Lammy is British.
Reform UK has been approached for comment.
