Nigel Farage, the Ukip leader, has been fined £200 for breaking electoral law after he failed to declare that he was getting office space for free.
He has already paid the penalty after the Electoral Commission found he had not reported the donations in kind from John Longhurst since 2001. The use of the office space has been independently valued as rising from £3,500 to £3,800 per year over this time.
The commission concluded that there was no intent to hide the donations, which were separately reported to the European parliament, where Farage is an MEP.
The discrepancy was uncovered by a Times investigation into why Farage was spending around £17,000 last year in EU expenses on office costs when he was using the space rent-free. The spending for the small office near Littlehampton, West Sussex, was to cover utilities, business rates, insurance and cleaning, as it did not include stationery, staff salaries, office equipment or communications.
In a statement at the time, Ukip said Farage had not realised he needed to tell the Electoral Commission about the donation as well as the European parliament.
A spokesman added on Tuesday: “The Electoral Commission wholly accept that Nigel Farage sought professional advice and followed it in good faith and that the use of the office was not concealed.
“They therefore concluded that Mr Farage was ‘honestly mistaken as to [his] obligations’. Nigel has paid the fine and the matter is now settled.”
The maximum penalty for failing to declare donations is £20,000 or a year in jail.
