Labour win council seat after Ukip messes up nomination papers

Labour has won a seat uncontested in St Edmundsbury after Ukip’s nomination papers were ruled out due to a fatal legal error: not getting the party name/description right.

Political parties are allowed to register more than one variation of their name, and then choose which one of the range to use on the ballot paper next to a specific candidate’s name. However, the paperwork for this must be filled in exactly, down to the very last letter. Saying you want to be ‘Liberal Democrats’ in one part of the paperwork but ‘Liberal Democrat’ in another, for example, invalidates the paperwork.

It was a mistake along those lines which wiped out nearly all the Liberal Democrats in Harrow many years ago and a similar problem ruled out the Ukip candidate in a St Edmundsbury ward:

The nominee was unable to stand because they wrote ‘UKIP’ rather than writing out UK Independence Party out in full, invalidating their candidacy …

The costly acronym eliminated the nominee, making it an uncontested win for Labour’s Liz Smith in the Haverhill North ward. [Cambridgeshire Live]

Of course, the other reason this error gifted the seat to Labour is that no other party had put up any candidates. A reminder of the importance of putting up candidates.