Cost of European elections leaps to £150m as PM blamed for delaying preparations

THE cost of staging this month’s European elections has rocketed by £50 million after Theresa May delayed preparations by insisting the poll would not be necessary.

The extra cost – which is 50 per cent higher than originally thought – includes millions in “contingency” costs in case parties have to be reimbursed for the cost of fielding candidates who never get to take up their seats.

Brexit-backing Tory MPS described the cost of the elections as “a complete waste of public money” and said taxpayers would be appalled. The Government is expected to announce later this week that the cost of the elections on May 23 will be £156million, compared with £108.7million when the elections were last held in 2014.

The biggest expense is in training and paying the returning officers and council staff who will administer the count, which will cost £96million, followed by £50million for mailing out polling cards and information about the election.

However, a further £4.5million has been set aside for “contingency costs” in case the election does not go ahead. Parties that pay a deposit to field candi- dates would have to be repaid in the event of the election being cancelled.

The remainder of the money is to cover the cost of the elections in Northern Ireland, which includes the cost of security at some polling stations.

Peter Bone, the Brexiteer Tory MP, said: “It’s a complete waste of public money because there is absolutely no need for these elections.”

Government sources said the reason for the cost going up so sharply is that in 2014 the European elections were held on the same day as the local elections, leading to economies of scale.