THE Liberal Democrat MSP Alex Cole-Hamilton will not be prosecuted over his Holyrood election expenses, the Crown Office has confirmed.
Mr Cole-Hamilton, 40, had been investigated over claims he broke the legal spending limit getting elected in Edinburgh Western in 2016, and had filed an inaccurate candidate return.
He was the subject of a police report to the procurator fiscal in June, while he was running his party’s general election campaign across Scotland.
His election agent Louise Young was also investigated, and has also now been told that, like Mr Cole-Hamilton, she does not face prosecution “at this time”.
Mr Cole-Hamilton won Edinburgh Western by 2960 votes after spending £32,549 on his campaign, just below the legal limit, compared to £18,593 by his SNP rival Toni Giugliano.
In Edinburgh’s five other seats, the average spend by LibDem candidates was £924.
The LibDem was a “dual candidate”, standing both in a seat and on the regional list.
Electoral Commission guidance says dual candidates must make an “an honest assessment” of whether their spending promotes their constituency or regional campaign and parties “should not split costs if an item is produced mainly to promote a candidate”.
He stayed under the constituency spending cap by attributing thousands of pounds of leaflet and office costs to the regional fight rather than the constituency one.
However many leaflets claimed by the LibDems as regional spending for the Lothians were heavily skewed towards specific neighbourhoods in Edinburgh Western.
Thousands of pounds of office costs were divided 60:30:10 between the seat, region and local party, while leaflets, deliveries and stationery were split in a bewildering variety of ratios between the constituency and regional fights, including 50:50, 75:25, 80:20 and 88:12.
On his official return, Mr Cole-Hamilton also claimed he spent more on tea and biscuits than renting a shared office, spending £180 on the former and £83.45, or 68p a day, on the latter.
The SNP, which rented a campaign office next door to Mr Cole-Hamilton on a shopping arcade in Corstorphine, spent £760 on its leasing costs.
Mr Cole-Hamilton subsequently helped Christine Jardine get elected as the LibDem MP for the overlapping Westminster seat of Edinburgh West.
She was recently reported to the police over her spending.
Mr Cole-Hamilton said: “As I always knew they would, the Procurator Fiscal service confirmed to me that I have no case to answer in respect of allegations around my 2016 election campaign spending.
“While this has been a long process, I have sought to fully co-operate with the investigation at every stage. I did so, both in the knowledge that we had done nothing wrong but also because I believe that it’s vitally important for voters to retain faith in the integrity of individual election results and by extension, the wider democratic process.
“Throughout all of this, my focus has never drifted from my efforts to represent the communities of West Edinburgh to the best of my ability. I love my job and I work hard at it. I’m glad this matter is closed and I’m grateful to the police and the fiscal service for their dedication in pursuit of the truth both in this case and in all that they do.”
A Crown Office spokesperson: “The Procurator Fiscal received a report concerning a 39-year-old male and 42-year-old female in connection with an alleged incident on 7 June 2016 and after full and careful consideration of the facts and circumstances of the case, has decided there should be no proceedings at this time.”
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