Labour fined £20k by Electoral Commission for incomplete election spending returns
The Electoral Commission has fined the Labour Party £20,000 for breaking campaign spending rules during the 2015 General Election and failing to report a number of items to them.
In a report published this morning, it said that the return was "incomplete" and was missing 74 payments which totalled £123,748 along with 33 separate invoices at a cost of £34,392.
This is the largest fine the commission has issued in its history.
The watchdog's report was triggered when party chiefs failed to declare the 'EdStone' – an 8 ft 6 stone the former leader Ed Miliband unveiled along with a number of promises before the 2015 election.
The stone featured six election pledges including "An NHS with the time to care" and "homes to buy and action on rents" and Miliband vowed to place it in the Downing Street garden if he won the election.
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Revealed in a party in Hastings, the £7,600 stone became a symbol for Labour's electoral defeat, but was not declared by officials when they came to file the accounts.
It was all going very well for Ed Miliband. Then he heard a voice telling him to build a stone tablet. pic.twitter.com/8FH8KWOUgG
— Karl Sharro (@KarlreMarks) May 3, 2015
The spending for the stone was missing from the accounts which prompted an investigation. After the election a number of journalists tried to track the whereabouts of the stone. It was hidden in a warehouse and Labour said later the stone was destroyed.
Labour have already paid the fine – which is the maximum penalty available for a single offence.