Former Castle Point MP Bob Spink fraud trial date set

Bob Spink has been accused of submitting false signatures on nomination papers

A former Conservative MP who defected to UKIP is to go on trial accused of electoral fraud.

The allegations against Bob Spink are related to the local election campaign in Essex for Castle Point Borough Council in 2016.

UKIP activist James Parkin, 38, has also been charged.

The pair appeared at Basildon Crown Court on Monday accused of submitting false signatures on nomination papers. They will stand trial in November.

They have previously denied the allegations at a magistrates' court.

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Mr Spink, who served as MP for Castle Point in two periods between 1992 and 2010, has been charged with five counts of submitting false signatures on nomination papers on or before 5 April 2016.

Mr Parkin faces nine counts of the same charge.

Four of the charges in Mr Parkin's case relate specifically to false signatures while the remaining five relate to obtaining genuine signatures by misleading electors about what they were signing for.