Rayner warned about electoral fraud in April ... and did not act

Angela Rayner was warned about alleged electoral fraud in her constituency more than a month ago and did nothing about it, The Telegraph can disclose.

Ms Rayner was sent a letter on April 12, detailing a complaint of election misconduct over claims that fake independent candidates had been entered on the ballot for her local borough council.

On Thursday, four men and a woman, aged between 23 and 47, were arrested by Greater Manchester Police on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud.

The alleged plot was intended to split the votes of the opposition parties and was reportedly carried out by people associated with Tameside Labour group, where Ms Rayner – who was deputy prime minister until she was forced to resign – is the local MP.

Atta Ul-Rasool, Labour’s candidate, was elected after beating the second-placed candidate Ahmed Mehmood, an independent, by 177 votes.

The two alleged fake candidates received 291 votes between them. Mr Rasool works in Ms Rayner’s constituency office as an administrative officer. Neither of the two allegedly bogus candidates turned up at the election night count. One of them is reportedly a vulnerable adult.

Tories waded into the row on Friday night, alleging that “something deeply fishy” had gone on in Ms Rayner’s constituency and calling on the former deputy prime minister to disclose all she might know.

The formal complaint was lodged with Ms Rayner and Tameside Labour Party by Kaleel Khan, an elected councillor in Tameside, who was also the election agent and campaign manager for Mr Mehmood.

The letter stated: “There are concerns that these two candidates may have links to Tameside Labour Party or to Labour activists. If that is true, this is a serious matter and should be properly investigated.”

Mr Khan wrote to Ms Rayner that he had “picture evidence” appearing to show that Labour activists had proposed and seconded the two independent candidates.

He added: “Given the seriousness of these issues, I ask Tameside Labour Party to carry out a full and transparent investigation.”

Mr Khan told The Telegraph he had received no response from either the local Labour party or Ms Rayner’s office.

“It was extremely disappointing that Angela Rayner did not respond,” he said. “One of those candidates is a vulnerable adult and has been exploited. I have been ringing alarm bells and they [the Labour party] haven’t listened.”

On Friday, a former vice-chairman of the Ashton-under-Lyne Community Labour Party told The Telegraph that the alleged plot to use fake candidates to split the opposition vote had been raised with him twice, including at a summer barbecue hosted by Ms Rayner at her constituency home.

Philip Wilson-Marks, who has since defected to the Green Party, said the plan was discussed with him by a local Labour figure. There was no evidence, he said, that Ms Rayner was aware of the discussions. 

Mr Wilson-Marks told the local Labour Party activist he would not support the plan.

He said: “I was vice-chair responsible for election campaign planning and strategy. I was approached with the suggestion that independent candidates should be put up in order to split opposition votes to try and enable Labour to retain seats.”

He said the first conversation floating the idea took place in May last year, and it was raised again a month later at Ms Rayner’s house at the barbecue held to thank party activists. The discussions lasted no more than 10 minutes on each occasion.

Ms Rayner was not present at either of those conversations.

At the election on May 7, St Peter’s ward – which is at the centre of the police inquiry – was the only one in Tameside to return a Labour councillor. The remaining 18 seats contested on the night were all won by Reform UK.

Sources inside Ms Rayner’s office have accepted that Mr Khan’s letter was sent to her but that, since it was emailed with the subject line “Complaint to the Labour Party”, it was not a matter for Ms Rayner to respond to.

A Labour spokesman said: “No evidence has been presented of any Labour Party involvement in these allegations. We categorically reject any suggestion that the party was involved. 

“The local Labour team is focused on what really matters – delivering for residents and protecting services, not playing political games. We are unable to provide any further comment while police inquiries are under way.”

The Labour Party does not believe any of the people arrested are party figures. The party is also adamant that claims that Labour hatched a plot to run bogus independent candidates are baseless and untrue.

The Conservatives demanded that Ms Rayner explain all she knows about the alleged plot. Kevin Hollinrake, the chairman of the Conservative Party, said: “Something deeply fishy has gone on in Tameside.

“I know from experience that the councillors in an MP’s constituency are their local organisers and biggest champions, and that they speak constantly.”

In a sideswipe at Ms Rayner, who was forced to resign after The Telegraph disclosed that she owed £40,000 in stamp duty on the purchase of a holiday home on the south coast, Mr Hollinrake added: “While Angela Rayner has been holed up in her new Hove flat plotting her leadership bid, serious questions about electoral fraud have been piling up on her own doorstep.

“Angela Rayner needs to come clean and explain what she knew about these sock-puppet candidates.”

[Source: Daily Telegraph]