GEORGE Galloway may have broken election law by not filing campaign expenses on time for the Batley and Spen by-election, it has emerged.
The Workers' Party candidate looked to capitalise on discontent with Labour in the north of England constituency over Keir Starmer's leadership of the party after his failed bid to win a seat in Holyrood with All for Unity.
Galloway was unsuccessful in his bid to win the Batley and Spen seat, coming third overall with 8264 votes behind the Conservative candidate (12,973 votes) and Labour's Kim Leadbeater (13,296 votes).
Leadbeater won the seat with a majority reduced from 3525 to 323, despite the Tories having been expected to take it.
Galloway repeatedly accused other candidates in the by-election of irregularities saying he had "multiple grounds" to get the result overturned in court.
Kim Leadbeater won the Batley and Spen by-election for Labour
He claimed his election effort had been damaged by a “false statement” that he laughed while Leadbeater was abused on the campaign trail and by "lazy and false tropes" about his campaign and the people that voted for him.
The deadline for declaring expenses used in campaigning was last Friday (August 6), but as of Monday this week Galloway had not filed his returns, openDemocracy reported.
Kirklees Council, which covers the area including the Batley and Spen constituency, confirmed to openDemocracy that the other 15 candidates submitted their returns by the deadline.
A spokesperson added: “On Monday 9 August 2021, the Acting Returning Officer received the returns and declarations as to election expenses for George Galloway.”
READ MORE: Labour MP forgets about Scotland in George Galloway claim
Election law makes it an “illegal practice” if “a candidate or election agent fails to comply” in filing their return on time. Candidates or their agents can avoid prosecution by applying for relief from the High Court within seven days.
During his campaign, Galloway also threatened to take legal action against the local council after it removed some of his posters.
The council said that text identifying who had paid for the poster was too small and breached the rules.
Galloway has yet to present evidence of what he described as a “blatantly partisan move” and "egregious and serious and election-altering antics" from the Labour-led Kirklees Council.
There is currently no trace of any legal action over the election, openDemocracy has reported.
READ MORE: 'Toxic' arch-Unionist George Galloway condemned over by-election campaign
The Workers' Party said that openDemocracy had "been misled" about the late filing of election returns with a spokesperson saying: "Our returns were filed on time and this has been confirmed with the relevant officers at the Commission.”
However, a spokesperson for the Electoral Commission confirmed their guidance makes clear that it is not involved in collection returns in each constituency, adding that it was aware one candidate's return had been filed “later than the deadline”.
The Workers' Party did not respond to further questions by openDemocracy.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel