Police investigate allegations of electoral fraud in South Thanet
Police are looking into allegations of electoral fraud in South Thanet, the Parliamentary seat UKIP leader Nigel Farage failed to gain last Friday.
Speaking at the declaration, Mr Farage said he “feels pretty damned good”, and congratulated David Cameron on a majority win for the Tories.
Mr Farage – who is also a Member of the European Parliament for the South East – received 16,026 votes, with Tory Craig MacKinlay on 18,838.
After Mr Farage made good on a pledge to resign, before resuming the role of UKIP leader, Kent Police on Wednesday issued a statement saying: “We have received a report of electorial fraud and enquiries are ongoing.”
The claims of suspicious behaviour surfaced after there was a delay of several hours before the result in South Thanet was declared.
After it was announced that UKIP had won in the local council election, the hashtag #ThanetRigged gained momentum.
UKIP leader Nigel Farage stood down on Friday, after he was beaten by Tory Craig MacKinlay in the South Thanet constituency.
The politician made good on his pledge to step down if he failed to become an MP – but appears to have had a change of heart, after being persuaded to stay by the party’s execs – the UKIP national executive committee rejected the resignation.
