Election Offence
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Watkins v Woolas, QBD, 5 November 2010
In the General Election held on 6 May 2010 Philip Woolas (“the Respondent”), who was the sitting MP for Oldham East and Saddleworth (“OES”), retained his seat, defeating his nearest rival, Robert Elwyn Watkins (“the Petitioner”), by 103 votes. The Respondent was the candidate of the Labour Party. The Petitioner was the candidate of the Liberal Democratic Party.
By a petition issued pursuant to section 120 of the Representation of the People Act 1983 (RPA 1893) the Petitioner has contested the result of the election. He alleges that the Respondent was guilty of an illegal practice contrary to section 106 of the RPA 1983, namely, before the election and for the purpose of affecting the return, he made or published several false statements of fact in relation to the Petitioner’s personal character or conduct which he had no reasonable grounds for believing to be true and did not believe to be true.
If he is guilty of an illegal practice then section 159(1) of the RPA 1083 requires that his election shall be void. In addition he will be incapable of being elected to the House of Commons for three years; see section 160(4) and (5).
Held: For the reasons which we have given we are sure that the Respondent made statements of fact in relation to the personal character or conduct of the Petitioner which he had no reasonable grounds for believing were true and did not believe were true. Those statements were as follows:
(i) The statement in the Examiner that the Respondent had attempted to woo the vote, that is, that he had attempted to seek the electoral support, of Muslims who advocated violence, in particular to the Respondent.
(ii) The statement in the Labour Rose that the Petitioner had refused to condemn extremists who advocated violence against the Respondent.
(iii) The statement in the election address that the Petitioner had reneged on his promise to live in the constituency.
The Respondent is therefore guilty of an illegal practice. That illegal practice was committed by him. We shall so report to the Speaker as required by sections 144 and 158 of the RPA 1983. Section 144 requires the court to determine whether the election of the Respondent as a Member of Parliament is void. We have determined that his election is void pursuant to section 159 of the RPA 1983 because the Respondent is personally guilty of an illegal practice.
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