UKIP leader Paul Nuttall is under police investigation for 'misleading' housing claims

LONDON ' Police are investigating claims that UKIP leader Paul Nuttall misled by-election voters in Stoke over his home address.The police statement, cited by The Guardian, said: "We have received a report of an allegation of election fraud relating to the Stoke Central byelection on Thursday 23 February 2017. Officers will be investigating the circumstances."A returning officer said: "We understand the police are due to investigate and we will be co-operating fully as we would in any other matter."The Labour party said on Wednesday that Nuttall, who is standing to become an MP in Stoke-on-Trent Central, was yet to stay in the house which he had registered as his primary home on nomination papers.Channel 4's Michael Crick was the first to suggest that the house was empty on Wednesday, and political blogger Guido Fawkes revealed on Thursday that Nuttall had "spent the night on a mattress on the floor" of the house on Wednesday:Inside Paul Nuttall's Stoke Bedroom https://t.co/ckHppCbmVv pic.twitter.com/9pNjhwBz3J' Guido Fawkes (@GuidoFawkes) February 2, 2017Staffordshire police told BBC News that "considerable media interest" in an allegation relating to a candidate standing in the by-election had prompted an investigation.A UKIP spokesman told BBC news that it was "entirely sanguine" that electoral law was "complied with".He said: "I am told that police are investigating. They have not spoken to us and if and when they do, we will be perfectly happy to answer their questions."A candidate is not required to register a primary address in the constituency for which they are standing, so it is unclear why Nuttall registered the vacant address in Stoke-on-Trent. It is a breach of electoral law for a candidate to register an address where they do not currently live, as legal text Parker's Law and Conduct of Elections explains:It adds that "an election is defective if the nomination is defective."Watch what happened when Channel 4 News asked Nuttall about the arrangement:UKIP's Paul Nuttall asked why he listed residence he's never been to as current "home" on nomination form. Party said he was moving today. pic.twitter.com/Q8kq1BekrS' Channel 4 News (@Channel4News) February 1, 2017The by-election follows the resignation of Labour MP Tristram Hunt, and will be held on February 23.Join the conversation about this storyNOW WATCH: MEP trolls Nigel Farage with protest sign
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