THE ‘disqualified’ Police and Crime Commissioner candidate, Jonathon Seed, has been charged by police with making a ‘false declaration’ in his nomination papers.
The Conservative Party’s candidate for the PCC role in Swindon and Wiltshire was ‘disbarred’ from the election race the day before the result was announced, because of a drink driving offence from 1993 – an offence that was not disclosed in his nomination papers. He will appear at Oxford Magistrates’ Court on 19th October charged with “making a false statement contrary to Article 21 of the Police and Crime Commissioner Elections Order 2012”.
Head of Special Crime at the Crown Prosecution Service, Rosemary Ainslie said, “The Crown Prosecution Service has today authorised police to charge Jonathon Seed with making a false declaration in the nomination papers for the Wiltshire 2020 Police and Crime Commissioner elections.
“The charge relates to an allegation he made a false declaration that he was not disqualified from election as a Police and Crime Commissioner. The CPS made the decision that he should be charged after reviewing a file of evidence from Thames Valley Police.”
It has also been confirmed, that Jonathon Seed has been suspended from the Wiltshire Council Conservative group, that’s according to group and Wiltshire Council leader, Richard Clewer.
In May, Jonathon Seed claimed that when he applied to be a PCC candidate, he believed that he was an eligible candidate and that he had declared his driving conviction to the Conservative Party.
He also says that up until the evening of 6th May – the day of the PCC election – party officials had told him that his drink driving offence did not affect his eligibility to stand as a PCC candidate.
Guidance on the Electoral Commission’s website states that PCC candidates cannot stand for election if they have ever been convicted of an ‘imprisonable offence’. And candidates are asked to make a declaration on their nomination form that they believe that they are not disqualified from election as PCC.
