Police assess if Reform broke election spending rules

P olice are assessing whether a number of Reform UK candidates who ran to become Holyrood MSPs broke election spending rules. Four candidates representing Nigel Farage’s party at the Scottish parliament elections have not submitted returns detailing how much they spent during their campaigns and the value of their donations. Most commented 1 Starlink deliberately slowed in Ukraine, says Zelensky Russia-Ukraine war 1,090 comments 2 Katie Zacharia departs as Trump’s press secretary after less than a week US politics 690 comments 3 Hundreds of British troops to rehearse Ukraine mission Politics 311 comments 4 Scotland plane crash: boy, 16, and man, 80, killed Scotland 50 comments 5 All Blacks leave Australia chasing shadows in dazzling first half Rugby union 31 comments A further five who did submit returns have failed to sign off on their spending properly, an investigation by The Sunday Times and The Ferret, an investigative group , has found. All other candidates for all other parties complied with the rules. Top stories 1 US inflation hotter than expected as Iran war stokes fuel costs Economics Police Scotland said: “Information has been received and is being assessed.” Last month the Metropolitan Police announced that it was launching a criminal investigation into claims that senior figures in the party breached foreign donation rules. The party’s own internal investigation found it had not broken the law. Advertisement Now, its spending at the Holyrood election is under scrutiny. Campaigners and opposition parties have demanded the party “provide full transparency” over its campaign costs. Reform MSPs walk out of ‘waste of time’ independence debate According to electoral law, all candidates must supply officials with records of any donations they receive worth more than £50, as well as spending on campaigning activities and materials, including leaflets, public meetings and social media advertising. Top stories 1 Theo Paphitis: I bought a £100m business for £1 and two packs of Benson & Hedges Family Finances 2 Will Lyons: my vintage wine tour of South Australia Inspiration For the Scottish parliament elections which took place in May, the deadline for these submissions was June 15. Analysis shows four Reform UK candidates who ran for MSP constituency seats have failed to submit their campaign spending or disclose donations over £50. Although none of these candidates secured enough votes to win a seat, they each amassed thousands of votes. Advertisement David McLennan, who became Reform’s first councillor in Scotland after winning the Whitburn & Blackburn election in 2025 won 22.5 per cent of the vote in Bathgate, West Lothian. David McLennan was one of four candidates who did not submit their spending Meanwhile, Dan Clarke won 22 per cent of the votes in Clydesdale, South Lanarkshire. Malcolm Jones won 19 per cent in Almond Valley, West Lothian, and Sean O’Hagan secured 16 per cent in Glasgow Anniesland. Even if they did not spend any money on their campaigns or receive any donations, they are required to provide their local returning officers with a submission, unless they have “an authorised excuse”, according to the Electoral Commission. Candidates are also required to sign a declaration confirming information they have filed is accurate to the best of their knowledge. Our audit shows five Reform UK candidates who ran in Edinburgh-based constituencies — David Lees, Andrew McLaughlin, Cameron Rose, Davie Thomson and Charles Turner — failed to submit these documents. The City of Edinburgh council confirmed that five out of six Reform UK contenders who ran for constituency seats in their area did not submit the declaration to returning officers. However, it said all of those five candidates provided their spending returns, and submitted declarations for their separate campaigns on the Edinburgh regional list. Advertisement The Electoral Commission confirmed that parties are responsible for the money spent on regional campaigns. However, if a candidate also stands in a constituency, as the five Reform UK candidates did, their agent must submit spending returns for both contests. Both the candidate and their agent must also sign declarations to say the information about spending in the constituency contest is accurate. Returns must be submitted to the local returning officer in the council area where they ran within 35 days of the declaration of the result, in this case June 15, unless they have a valid excuse. Returning officers then send the information to the Electoral Commission, which publishes the headline results for the public to inspect. Juliet Swann, nations and regions manager at Transparency International UK, said: “Clarity on political finance is vital to understanding influence and is a crucial part of the democratic process. And limits on spending establish a level playing field so votes cannot be bought. “Spending returns both expose potential breaches of expenditure limits and show who a candidate may be indebted to. Complying with the rules on political finance is not an optional extra, it is a legal requirement and a democratic duty.” Advertisement Jackie Baillie, the deputy leader of Scottish Labour, said the investigation “raises serious questions for Reform UK”. Jackie Baillie said Reform had “serious questions” to answer Ken Jack/Getty Images “Reform has repeatedly shown a complete disregard for following the rules that apply to us all,” she claimed, adding that the party must “provide full transparency about the spending on their Holyrood campaign”. The Liberal Democrat MSP Willie Rennie claimed “the reek of sleaze off Reform is unavoidable” and said their behaviour reflected “a cavalier approach to the rules that’s beneath the dignity of public service”. Willie Rennie claimed the failure to provide expenses returns reflected “a cavalier approach to the rules” sst/Alamy “It only adds to the case for immediate and urgent action to strengthen sanctions for those who violate rules meant to safeguard the integrity of Scottish democracy,” he said. The Electoral Commission said neither the elections watchdog nor the returning officers who oversee elections, have responsibility for verifying the completeness or accuracy of candidates’ spending returns. The commission’s website says that while it reviews returns to monitor compliance with the law, “the police are responsible for dealing with any potential breaches”. Advertisement Reform UK did not respond to a request to comment. Attempts were made to contact all of the party’s candidates mentioned.