Croydon Conservative MPs 'broke rules on election spending' (From Croydon Guardian)

Croydon Conservative MPs 'broke rules on election spending'

1:18pm Friday 23rd July 2010

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Croydon Central MP Gavin Barwell has revealed he is “really relaxed” despite breaking the rules on expenditure during his successful election campaign.

The Conservative was one of five MPs to have anomalies in their election spending scrutinised on Channel 4 News last night.

Mr Barwell said his election agent Ian Parker made “administrative errors” in both his and Croydon South MP Richard Ottaway’s campaigns, breaching strict rules on spending by potential parliamentary candidates.

He said Mr Parker - who has replaced Mr Barwell as councillor in Coulsdon West - neglected to include the cost of using the pairs’ constituency offices while campaigning, and also failed to declare £500 deposits laid down on each MPs' election literature.

Mr Barwell said: “I’m not an expert, but we have to go to a court - you have to convince the court it’s an administrative error.

“Channel 4 contacted me before so I knew they were looking at running it, but to be honest I’m really relaxed about it.

“It’s irritating, obviously I’d rather it hadn’t happened but genuinely it’s an admin error.”

Mr Ottaway said: "This is a cock-up, not a conspiracy.

"As I understand it will have to go to court and just confirm that this error has been made.

"The only time they start probing is if it looks a bit fishy, but that's clearly not the case."

Mr Parker was unavailable for comment.

Mr Barwell has escaped the criticism levelled at Richmond Park MP Zac Goldsmith and immigration minister Phil Woolas, who refused to include expenditure on election leaflets they printed but chose not to use.

He said: “We used all ours, primarily because we knew Croydon Central was going to be a tight race and we knew we were going to be spending close to the limit.

“We were very careful.”

Making a false declaration about election expenditure can carry a penalty of up to a year imprisonment, while failing to provide accurate expenditure details can carry a fine of up to £5,000 under the Representation of the People Act 1983.

An Electoral Commission spokeswoman confirmed it would look into Mr Barwell’s expenses and announce whether any action will be taken next week.