Conservative MP's win over Nigel Farage could have been declared void after he 'abandoned' spending rules, court hears

A Conservative MP's election to Parliament could have been declared void after he overspent during his campaign to beat Nigel Farage, a court has heard.

Craig Mackinlay, who represents the constituency of South Thanet in Kent, is accused of deliberately submitting "woefully inaccurate" expenditure returns, along with his election agent Nathan Gray and party activist Marion Little.

Jurors at Southwark Crown Court heard that during the 2015 general election campaign, the Conservative Party put in extra resources to win the seat.

The campaign's declared spending came in under the strict £52,000 limit set for the constituency but prosecutors allege that up to £66,600 was not declared.

"This was a very important seat for the Conservative Party to win and Mr Mackinlay had to be elected," prosecutor Aftab Jafferjee QC told jurors. "In seeking to ensure the success of the Conservative Party's candidate and the defeat of Nigel Farage, we submit that proper regard to the limits of expenditure imposed by law was simply abandoned.

"Each of these three defendants were complicit in the means deployed to achieve that end. Had the true position been declared, Craig Mackinlay's election would have been at the risk of being declared void."

Jurors also heard that the MP, Mr Gray and Ms Little were warned about the risk of overspending as early as February 2015, well before the May election.

Experienced Tory activist Anthony Salter told the court that he was the voluntary chairman of the local Conservative campaign team until the end of March 2015, when he bowed out after Ms Little had "taken over".

In an email to Ms Little, ahead of a meeting with her on 17 February 2015 he wrote: "We have raised 50K for Craig's campaign ... Almost all of this money is committed already ... For once money is the least of our worries, although Farage will undoubtedly outspend us and Labour will have more boots on the ground."

After the meeting, in an email addressed to Mr Mackinlay and others, Mr Salter raised his concerns over breaching strict spending limits during the campaign.

"We're getting perilously close to hitting our legal limits, both for the long and short campaign," he wrote. "I take on board your concerns that we face the real prospect of a legal challenge from Farage if you make the smallest slip up."

Mr Salter said he also had reservations over Mr Gray's employment by Conservative Campaign Headquarters as the election agent.

"I didn't consider he had the appropriate training, skills and expertise," he said. "I wanted somebody with the proper training and expertise to oversee (the expenditure returns) and make sure we didn't make stupid mistakes."

Mr Mackinlay denies two charges of a false election expenses declaration under the Representation of the People Act 1983.

He won 18,838 votes in the 2015 election, beating Mr Farage, the former head of Britain's UK Independence Party (UKIP), who came in a close second, polling 16, 026 votes.

Despite the ongoing case Mr Mackinlay won the seat for the second time in 2017, with an increased majority of over 6,000 votes which followed a collapse in UKIP's vote, with Mr Farage no longer the party's candidate.

29-year-old Mr Gray denies one charge of making a false election expenses declaration and a further charge of using a false instrument under the Forgery and Counterfeiting Act 1981 and Ms Little denies three counts of intentionally encouraging or assisting an offence under the Serious Crime Act 2007.

All three defendants are on unconditional bail.

The trial continues.

Additional reporting by agencies