People are complaining to the police over Nigel Farage’s ‘prize draw’
Nigel Farage has said he is ‘not worried’ after police announced it was reviewing a complaint over his party’s prize draw.
Under a competition launched by Reform UK, one lucky winner as well as their entire street had their energy bills covered by the party.
On Thursday, Mr Farage shared a video of himself and his treasury spokesperson Robert Jenrick turning up at the home of ‘June from Wigan’, presenting her with a bouquet of flowers and a giant cheque for £1,758.
Voters could enter the draw by filling out a questionnaire on their voting habits, including which party they had voted for at the last election and who they intended to support now.
However campaign groups have expressed concerns that the giveaway may breach Electoral Commission guidance as acts that ‘incentivise voter behaviour’ can amount to ‘treating’ or ‘bribery’ which are considered a form of corruption.
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Unveiling the ‘Nigel Cut My Bills’ promotion, Mr Jenrick promised voters if they ‘give us your details’, Mr Farage would appear at their home and foot their energy bills for a year.
However it emerged that June and her husband Ray Dibble were both no strangers to Reform and Mr Farage.
The couple had appeared at a campaign event for the party’s predecessor, the Brexit Party in 2019 and were described as ‘staunch members’ by Reform’s Wigan branch.
Greater Manchester Police confirmed on Saturday that it was now reviewing a complaint about the draw.
It is as of yet unclear what offence is being looked into but the matter has not yet progressed to a full investigation.
Asked by reporters whether the giveaway could have broken election rules, Mr Farage insisted he wasn’t worried.
Reform said that the competition had been approved by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).
But the Open Rights Group said the promotion risked turning democracy into a ‘data harvesting exercise’, adding that the party was not telling entrants what their responses would be used for.
Its legal and policy officer, Mariano delli Santi, said: ‘Reform are asking the public to hand over sensitive data about their voting habits without being transparent about how it will be used.
‘This is a clear breach of transparency obligations under UK data protection law. Nothing in their privacy policy suggests they are not acting unlawfully in many other way.
‘Aside from the potential breach of data protection law, offering financial incentives in exchange for people’s political views risks turning democratic participation into a data-harvesting exercise.’
In a statement, the ICO said that it had spoken to Reform about the competition and ‘improving transparency’ in the way they handle personal information.
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