United Kingdom general election, 2015 party spending investigation

The United Kingdom General Election 2015 - Party Spending Investigation is a probe involving the UK Electoral Commission, numerous police forces, and the Crown Prosecution Service into over spending by political parties and candidates, primarily during the 2015 UK Parliamentary General Election campaign. This co-ordinated investigation has been described as 'an unprecedented and extraordinary situation'.

Elections held in the UK are governed by the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 and spending on elections is governed under the Representation of the People Act 1983. Shortly before the election, the Government increased the amount of money that parties and candidates were allowed to spend on the election by 23%, against the advice of the Electoral Commission.

A national party level, the Electoral Commission fined the three largest parties for breaches of spending regulations, levying the highest fines since its foundation: £20,000 for Labour in October 2016, £20,000 for the Liberal Democrats in December 2016, and £70,000 for the Conservative Party in March 2017. The higher fine for the Conservatives reflected both the extent of the wrongdoing and 'the unreasonable uncooperative conduct by the Party'.

At constituency level, related alleged breaches of spending regulations have led to police to begin investigations into possible criminal conduct of between 20 and 30 Conservative Party MPs. This investigation has been described as 'unprecedented'. Charges were not brought against most of those investigated, but on June 2nd 2017, charges were brought against Craig Mackinlay, who was elected Conservative MP for South Thanet in 2015, his agent Nathan Gray, and a party activist, Marion Little.

From 18 February 2016 to 16 March 2017, the Electoral Commission investigated the Conservative party at national level for breaches of spending regulations in the 2014 parliamentary by-elections in Clacton, Newark and Rochester and Strood; the 2014 European Parliamentary Election; and the 2015 UK general election. (No irregularities were found regarding the European election.)

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