Do whatever it takes to make elections fair

During David Cameron’s benighted Tory leadership he was notorious for disregarding the voluntary party and appointing cronies and second-raters to run Central Office. The chickens are now coming home to roost. A failure to include the cost of national campaigns in local ones led to the Electoral Commission fining the Tories £70,000 for breaking regulations in 2015. The deputy treasurer, Simon Day, has been referred to the police – why not Andrew Feldman, his Cameron-crony boss in charge of compliance? The police interviewed Craig MacKinlay, who beat Nigel Farage in Thanet South, for six hours. His campaign spent within £178 of the legal limit; that did not count the salaries and hotel bills of Central Office staff sent to ensure Mr Farage lost. This could get worse, with elections declared void and the Government, with its slim majority, facing by-elections. If Mr Farage runs, he may do so under the banner of a new movement replacing Ukip. It is crucial elections are fair: if that means senior figures going to jail, so be it.