Swinson faces questions over election expenses
JO Swinson is facing “serious questions” over her election expenses after thousands of pounds were left off her official declaration.
The East Dunbartonshire MP and deputy LibDem leader claimed her spending scraped in £210 below the legal limit in the party’s top Scottish target – but only after almost £7000 of costs were disregarded.
The former minister said £2700 of leaflets and other material bought by the party went undelivered and so didn’t count towards her total.
Her official declaration said more than 93,000 items were never used, including around 26,000 copies of her main four-page colour newsletter, the East Dunbartonshire Standard.
A further £4,040 of costs were omitted on the basis it was “national” spending promoting the LibDems in general, rather than Ms Swinson as the local candidate.
An SNP spokesperson said: “Voters will find it hard to believe that so much cash could be spent on leaflets that just vanished. It was an election, not an illusion show.
“These revelations raise serious questions over the LibDems’ campaign in East Dunbartonshire. People have a right to know what has gone on here.”
The LibDems insisted all spending had been “apportioned correctly”.
Ms Swinson, 37, first won East Dunbartonshire in 2005, and was the MP for a decade before losing to the SNP’s John Nicolson in 2015. She was defeated by 2167 votes, the smallest margin of any Scottish LibDem loser, and the seat was her party’s number one target in June, when she was re-elected.
On her signed candidate return, she declared she spent £14,409 out of the £14,619 maximum set to ensure a fair contest, around £4270 more than Mr Nicolson.
She said £2495 worth of material sent to voters was “national” spending as some space on her leaflets promoted the LibDems as a party and some promoted her.
Various leaflets were split 50:50, 75:25, 67:33 or 33:67 in respect of local and national costs.
The Electoral Commission allows split spending based on an “honest assessment”, but says the “main purpose” of the material is key.
It warns: “You should not split costs if an item is produced mainly to promote a candidate, and uses the party’s name or refers to the party’s policies purely in support of that aim.”
Ms Swinson also said 30 per cent of a £2922 bill for staff costs and a £2232 bill for office costs was national spending, taking another £1546 off the local total.
A LibDem spokesperson said: “All expenditure in this election was apportioned correctly and clearly identified in our election return which is now a matter of public record.
“It’s understandable that the SNP are smarting from a disappointing result, but they should accept that they were beaten in a fair fight in seats right across Scotland, and concentrate instead on the important business of running the country.”