Electoral Commission can’t be allowed to ‘mark its own homework’, says Tory chairman

A polling station official prepares to attach a sign outside a polling station during local elections on May 02, 2019 in Saltburn By The Sea, United Kingdom. - Ian Forsyth/Getty Images
A polling station official prepares to attach a sign outside a polling station during local elections on May 02, 2019 in Saltburn By The Sea, United Kingdom. - Ian Forsyth/Getty Images

Conservatives have raised "serious concerns" about the leadership and accountability of the elections watchdog after its chief executive confirmed plans to hand itself powers to prosecute parties and campaign groups.

In a highly unusual intervention, Amanda Milling, co-chairman of the Conservative Party and Cabinet minister, warned that the Electoral Commission should drop the proposals, as she hit out at the body's "botched handling" of recent cases.

The move puts Boris Johnson's Government on a major collision course with the watchdog, as it attempts to hand itself new powers. Senior Tories insist that the body is "not trusted to be impartial" based on previous investigations and past comments by board members and Louise Edwards, its director of regulation, who is leading the work.

Ms Milling's intervention comes after Bob Posner, the Electoral Commission's chief executive, confirmed that the body intended to take over responsibility for prosecuting "about 100 criminal offences" rather than referring suspected breaches of those laws to the police and Crown Prosecution Service.

Ms Milling, Mr Johnson's former deputy chief whip, told The Sunday Telegraph: “The Electoral Commission cannot be allowed to mark its own homework. This must remain a matter for the police and the independent Crown Prosecution Service, overseen by the courts.

Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons Jacob Rees-Mogg leaves Downing Street 10 in London, Britain February 13, 2020. - Hannah Mckay/Reuters
Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons Jacob Rees-Mogg leaves Downing Street 10 in London, Britain February 13, 2020. - Hannah Mckay/Reuters

“The Electoral Commission’s plans to give itself more powers, without recourse to the Government or Parliament, raise serious concerns about its lack of accountability, its strategy and its leadership.

“After its botched handling of recent cases, it should be focusing on improving its core functions, not trying to expand its empire. The Electoral Commission should drop these proposals.”

The Electoral Commission is planning to publish a consultation setting out proposals to hand itself a "prosecutions capability".

When The Sunday Telegraph first revealed the body's plans last year, Jacob Rees-Mogg, now the Leader of the Commons, urged the Conservatives to formally oppose the plans, stating: "The Electoral Commission is not trusted to be impartial."

The watchdog has faced repeated accusations of bias against bodies that campaigned for Brexit in 2016, which it strongly denies.

19th July 2019 Darren Grimes outside the court after judgement went in his favour at Mayor's and City of London Court, Guildhall Buildings, Basinghall Street. Ruling in case of student Darren Grimes, who appealed against £20,000 fine imposed by Electoral Commission. It said £675,000 spent by BeLeave, a youth Brexit group founded by Grimes, should have been declared by Vote Leave. - Jeff Gilbert/Jeff Gilbert

In May, the Metropolitan Police confirmed that it had ended investigations into Darren Grimes and Alan Halsall, two pro-Brexit campaign figures, two years after a referral by the commission for alleged breaches of spending rules. Mr Grimes described the body as a "kangaroo court" that was not "fit for purpose".

In 2018, this newspaper disclosed that almost half of the commission's board at that time had made public statements criticising the pro-Brexit campaign or backing calls for the result to be overturned, despite the commission’s code of conduct requiring impartiality. They were cleared by the commission following an investigation carried out by a chartered accountant.

In 2016 it emerged that Ms Edwards had posted negative comments on Facebook about the Conservatives before she took up the job at the commission. In one comment after David Cameron became prime minister in 2010, she said: "Just can't understand what people were thinking – do they not remember the Tories before?"

Addressing MPs on July 2, Ms Edwards said: "It is very important that we have these powers in order to move investigations forward as quickly as possible. We have the experience, and we have the evidence of that experience from our conduct at the civil sanctions regime.

"This is a completely normal thing for regulators to do. That is why we are taking it forward, and that is why we are consulting on the factors that we take forward as well, so that we make sure people have a chance to input into that."

The commission has insisted its investigation team acts with "complete impartiality" and said Ms Edwards' Facebook comments were posted five years before she joined the body.  All staff "adhere to a strict code of conduct."

Earlier this month, Jon Moynihan, a major donor to Vote Leave and the Conservatives, called for the body to be abolished, with its current work carried out by other authorities "who traditionally ran these matters".

The commission has insisted that there is "no substance to allegations that the Commission is biased".