Labour has been fined a record £20,000 for breaking spending rules during the 2015 general election, including missing payments on the so-called ‘Ed Stone’.
According to the Electoral Commission, the body that regulates political parties’ spending, an investigation was launched after it was established “two payments “totalling £7, 614, relating to spending incurred on a stone tablet – referred to in the media as the “Ed Stone” – were missing from the party’s campaign spending return”.
The 8ft 6in, two-tonne slab of limestone was unveiled just days before the general election by the former Labour leader Ed Miliband in order to convince the voters the party was committed to delivering on its manifesto. Mr Miliband had promised to erect the stone in the Downing Street Rose Garden if became Prime Minister.
In total Labour had missing 74 payments amounting £123,748, along with 33 separate invoices totaling £34,392. Invoices were also missing – totaling £11,357 – that related to activists touring the country during the election on the Labour Express tour and the Labour students.
The body added that the registered treasurer of the party, Iain McNicol, committed two offences in delivering this incomplete return, and the party has been fined £20,000 – the largest the Commission has imposed since it began operations in 2001.
Bob Posner, director of party and election finance at the Electoral Commission, said: “The Labour Party is a well-established, experienced party. Rules on reporting campaign spending have been in place for over 15 years and it is vital that the larger parties comply with these rules and report their finances accurately if voters are to have confidence in the system.”
It is believed that following Mr Miliband’s general election defeat, the stone monolith, commissioned by the party, was broken up after journalists attempted to track down its whereabouts. The object had long been rumoured to be stored in an unidentified warehouse in South London.
