Police probing LibDem MSP’s election spending update prosecutors

POLICE have updated prosecutors on their investigation into alleged irregularities in the Holyrood poll spending of the Scottish Liberal Democrats’ General Election campaign chair.

Alex Cole-Hamilton, 39, the MSP for Edinburgh Western, has been under investigation since September over claims he may have breached his campaign spending limit in 2016. The former charity worker won the seat by 2,960 votes after spending £32,549 on his campaign, just below the legal limit, compared with £18,593 by SNP rival Toni Giugliano.

Mr Cole-Hamilton was a “dual candidate”, standing both in a seat and on the regional list.

He stayed under the constituency spending limit by attributing thousands of pounds of leaflet and office costs to the list fight rather than the constituency one. However, many leaflets claimed as spending for the Lothians region were aimed at specific areas in Edinburgh Western.

Mr Cole-Hamilton also claimed to have spent more on tea and biscuits than renting a shared office, spending £180 on the former and £83.45, or 68p a day, on the latter.

It led to a member of the public complaining to the police that Mr Cole-Hamilton may have filed an inaccurate, and therefore illegal, spending return.

It is understood Police Scotland this week submitted a “memo” on the case to the procurator fiscal and this is now under consideration.

It is understood to be a case update rather than a full report to the fiscal. It does not mean Mr Cole-Hamilton will be subject to further action, and could be the prelude to the matter being dropped – a further update is expected next week.

Scottish LibDems’ leader Willie Rennie this week said he had “absolute confidence” in Mr Cole-Hamilton.

He said: “Alex is brilliant. It’s not going to go to anything. We’re confident we’ve got it right. We followed the guidance. It’s going to be fine.”

Mr Cole-Hamilton is also a key player in the LibDems’ fight to regain Edinburgh West.

An SNP spokesman said: “This is an extremely serious matter and the people of west Edinburgh deserve answers. Clearly, the police are investigating and we will wait to see the outcome before commenting further.”