WAS Margaret Hodge so desperate for votes that she broke the law?
That’s the allegation from some people as it emerged that she has been accused of breaching electoral law. It’s said that she tried to solicit votes in polling stations whilst voters went to the polls last Thursday.
An agent for the United Kingdom Independence Party claimed that Hodge had been seen inside at least two polling stations in her Barking constituency.
According to a report in the Daily Telegraph, UKIP claimed “that Mrs Hodge, the culture minister, had used “undue influence” by speaking to voters inside venues, in proximity to where they were voting”.
UKIP say they will lodge a formal complaint to the returning officer in Barking.
The Labour Party haven’t denied that she was in the polling stations. However, they claim that she was just saying hello to voters.
But, Kim Gandy, the agent for UKIP candidate Frank Maloney said that Hodge was seen at one polling station with Labour leaflets. Here she was asked to leave. She was then seen inside another polling station talking to voters.
Mrs Gandy said: “You do not do that. You do not go in there and talk to voters. To me it is undue influence.”
