Political

Ukip’s first MP, Bob Spink, found guilty of electoral fraud

Former Conservative MP Bob Spink’s political career has taken him through an expenses scandal, expulsion from the Conservatives, defection to Ukip (making him the party’s first MP) and then into the courts.

That final twist has now resulted in him and another been found guilty of electoral fraud:

Bob Spink, 69, former MP for Castle Point, Essex, committed the offences during the Castle Point borough council elections in May last year.

A jury at Southwark Crown Court found him guilty of four counts of permitting a false signature to be included on a nomination form for a UKIP councillor.

UKIP agent James Parkin, 38, of Canvey Island, was also convicted…

Jurors heard Spink tricked “elderly and infirm” voters into signing the forms in April 2016, without making it clear what the documents were or which party he represented. [BBC]

He was sentenced to a six-month jail term, suspended for two years along with being required to do 150 hours of unpaid community work.

No cats on the the jury though.

One response to “Ukip’s first MP, Bob Spink, found guilty of electoral fraud”

  1. It stretches the imagination. If anyone can’t get a few voters to sign their nomination papers, it seems reasonable to assume they’re going to lose heavily. This guy was not anyone, but a presumably well-known local figure.

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