SOUTH Somerset's MP and Conservative Party have responded to news that Somerset Police are working with CPS over the general election 2015 spending.

Earlier the week, the News reported that Avon and Somerset Police has submitted a file to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) relating to the general election expenses in 2015.

Now Marcus Fysh, MP for South Somerset, and the Conservative Party have responded saying there is an ongoing police investigation.

Some rival politicians have said that the Conservative Party's controversial Battle Bus campaign should have been listed under local election spending and not national.

MP Fysh said: "The Electoral Commission’s investigation was into the Conservative Party nationally rather than into any particular constituency visited by the Battle Bus.

"We understand that the party complied fully with the investigation and, like the Labour and Liberal Democrat parties who have also been investigated and fined by the Electoral Commission, the Party will pay the fines imposed.

"There is, however, a further ongoing police investigation and as such we'd prefer not to comment other than to say we've done nothing wrong and acted honestly and properly throughout our campaigns."


RELATED: Conservative Party fined £70,000 for failing to accurately report election expenses


A Conservative Party spokesman added: “The Conservative Party has complied fully with the Electoral Commission’s investigation since it began more than a year ago and will pay the fines they have imposed.

"This investigation and these fines relate to national spending by the Conservative Campaign Headquarters (CCHQ), and the Conservative Party’s national spending return for the 2015 general election.

"As we have consistently said, the local agents of Conservative candidates correctly declared all local spending in the 2015 general election.

"CCHQ accepted in March 2016 that it had made an administrative error by not declaring a small amount constituting 0.6 per cent of our national spending in the 2015 election campaign.

"This error was subsequently corrected and the party has since improved its accounting practices, reporting structures and staff guidance.

"Even taking this into account, the Conservative Party still considerably underspent the statutory national spending limits for the 2015 general election.

"Political parties of all colours have made reporting mistakes from time to time. The Labour Party and Liberal Democrats both failed to declare sums of money which constituted a larger proportion of their national expenditure in the 2015 general election.

"Both have been fined by the Electoral Commission, and the Liberal Democrats are also under police investigation.

"This is the first time the Conservative Party has been fined for a reporting error. We regret that and will continue to keep our internal processes under review to ensure this does not happen again.

"Given the range of technical errors made by a number of political parties and campaign groups, there also needs to be a review of how the Electoral Commission’s processes and requirements could be clarified or improved.

"CCHQ has always taken the view that its nationally directed battlebus campaign – a highly-publicised and visible activity with national branding – was part of its national return, and it would have no reason not to declare it as such, given that the Party was £2 million below the national spending threshold.

"The Electoral Commission report makes clear that our interpretation of the guidance was correct, stating: ‘The Commission has found no evidence to suggest that the Party had funded the Battlebus2015 campaign with the intention that it would promote or procure the electoral success of candidates’ (para. 106).

"MPs in constituencies visited by the battlebus would have no reason to consider whether it should be included in their local return – they were directed that the bus would be visiting as part of CCHQ’s national spending.

“The ongoing investigations relate to national spending by CCHQ and the national Party will continue to co-operate with the police and other authorities so that the matter can be resolved as soon as possible."


RELATED: Two MPs questioned by police over 2015 election spending


Earlier this week, a second Tory MP revealed he had been quizzed by officers.

Avon and Somerset is one of 11 who have submitted files, a spokesman for the force has confirmed.

A spokesperson for Avon and Somerset Police said: "We have completed our enquiries and have now submitted the files to the CPS.

"We cannot name the MPs concerned."

The probe into the Conservative Party's battle bus campaign in the 2015 contest is examining whether strict spending limits in target seats were breached.

Tory MP Will Quince said he had been told by Essex Police he faced no further action after voluntarily attending an interview under caution last January.

A CPS spokesman said it had received files from: Avon & Somerset, Cumbria, Derbyshire, Devon & Cornwall, Gloucestershire, Greater Manchester, Lincolnshire, the Metropolitan Police, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire and West Yorkshire police.

To read the full story from earlier this week, click here.