The election watchdog has revealed that it is pressing ahead with plans to hand itself powers to prosecute campaigners and political parties, putting itself on a collision course with ministers.
The Electoral Commission is planning to publish a consultation setting out proposals to hand itself a “prosecutions capability”, despite senior Tories insisting that the body is “not trusted to be impartial”.
The disclosure comes after the Metropolitan Police confirmed that it had ended investigations into Darren Grimes and Alan Halsall, two pro-Brexit campaign figures, two years after a referral by the commission for alleged breaches of spending rules. The move prompted calls for the commission to be “overhauled”, with Mr Grimes describing the body as a “kangaroo court” that was not “fit for purpose”.
Separately, the National Crime Agency found no evidence that any criminal offences were committed by Arron Banks, another prominent Brexiteer, after another referral by the watchdog.
Last night Matthew Elliott, who was chief executive of the official Vote Leave campaign, claimed that the commission’s record showed that if it acquired the new powers, “there will be countless travesties of justice, and democracy will be undermined.”
Sir Bernard Jenkin, the former chairman of the Commons public administration committee, said: “These proposals appear to be doubling down on a failed system. Parliament should change it.”
Another Conservative MP said: “I can’t think of any public body that is less deserving of prosecuting powers than the Electoral Commission, who have shown themselves to be biased and, frankly, vindictive.”
Last year Jacob Rees-Mogg, now the leader of the Commons, and Brandon Lewis, who has also been appointed to Boris Johnson’s cabinet, both expressed alarm at the watchdog’s plans to hand itself powers currently exercised by the police and Crown Prosecution Service – after the move was revealed by this newspaper.
The watchdog has faced repeated accusations of bias against bodies that campaigned for Brexit in 2016, which it strongly denies.
The commission claims it could hand itself the powers without ministers bringing forward legislation, by altering its enforcement policy following a public consultation – due to open in the coming weeks.
But MPs warned that some groups could be unfairly targeted.
Speaking last year, while Tory chairman, Mr Lewis pointed out that one senior figure at the commission – the same official spearheading the proposals – had previously said that she would “not want to live under a Tory government”. He suggested the body was not seen as a “fair” arbiter.
As a backbencher, Mr Rees-Mogg called for the Conservatives to formally oppose the move, saying: “The Electoral Commission is not trusted to be impartial and a number of its leading figures have said very prejudicial things about Brexit.”
The commission’s corporate plan for the period from 2020 to 2025 states: “To deter people from committing offences, and to make sure we can respond proportionally if they do, we will continue to build the capacity to prosecute suspected offences. We will consult on the way we approach the use of prosecutions.”
An Electoral Commission spokesman said: “Later this year we will be consulting with political parties, the police and the CPS on changes to our enforcement policy, which includes a prosecutions capability, and will bring our regulatory work in line with a wide range of other regulators.
“Extending our work in this direction would enable us to bring lower order offences before the courts in a way which is swift and proportionate, freeing up the resources of the police and prosecutors and delivering more effective regulation of political finance to support public confidence.”
Mr Elliott said: “The Electoral Commission’s track record at conducting investigations is woeful.
“In the case of Leave campaigners … they assumed that we were guilty until proven innocent … Thankfully, the Metropolitan Police and Crown Prosecution Service looked at the evidence thoroughly, and saw through the conspiracy theories that the Electoral Commission had believed without question.”
The commission insisted it was “right that potential electoral offences are properly investigated by the appropriate authority”. A spokesman said there was “no substance to allegations that the Commission is biased”, saying the organisation had investigated campaigners and parties across the political spectrum.