Police send Tory election fraud file to CPS

Police investigating allegations of dodgy election spending in the 2015 general election have sent a file to the Crown Prosecution Service to consider criminal prosecutions.

The 24 elections that were initially under investigation have reportedly been whittled down to 12 with Thanet South in the list of cases to be considered for charges. The investigations all relate to alleged overspending in elections, primarily as a result of claiming local spending as national and failing to declare expenditure.

The Tories are now faced with the prospect of having to contest several by-elections without cheating.