THE Conservative Government must reassure voters that it did not “cheat its way to power”, the SNP has insisted, in the wake of claims the Tory Party breached campaign spending rules at the last General Election.

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During Commons question-time, Nationalist MP Pete Wishart insisted an urgent statement was needed from ministers to clarify the situation.

Electoral watchdogs are meeting with police and prosecutors in a bid to ensure they do not run out of time to launch possible criminal investigations into Conservative campaign spending.

The party faces claims that accommodation costs of activists bussed into key constituencies should have been recorded under individual candidates' limits and not as part of the national campaign.

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"We need an urgent statement on what's going on with the investigation of the Conservative Party for breaking campaign spending rules in last year's general election,” declared Mr Wishart, the SNP’s shadow Commons leader.

"The claims are absolutely extraordinary and centre around Conservative candidates, 28 Conservative candidates, failing to register the use of a battle bus for local campaigning and something like £38,000 of accommodation for local campaigns.

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"If anybody's found guilty of such a charge it could result in one year imprisonment and an unlimited fine,” insisted the Perth MP.

"Surely we must now hear what the Government's view on this is and there must be no whiff or suggestion that this Government cheated its way to power," he added.

For the UK Government, Chris Grayling stressed how it was for “proper authorities to address such issues whenever they arose”, and added: “I have been very careful to say that that is the case when those issues have affected the Scottish nationalists, as we have seen in recent months.”

But Phil Boswell, the SNP MP for Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill, claimed Mr Grayling’s answer was not good enough.

He said: “Does the Leader of the House not agree that it is incumbent on the Government to take action and work with any investigation, police or otherwise - and if there is none, to instigate one -especially as the allegations have been made against the party in government?”

The Commons Leader repeated his point, saying: “When allegations are made, there are proper authorities to investigate them.”

The Electoral Commission is currently probing the allegations and has said that work will take at least another month, taking it past the one-year time limit for launching criminal proceedings.

It is meeting with relevant police forces and the Crown Prosecution Service to ask them to seek an extension.

Tory HQ has blamed an "administrative error" for failing to register some accommodation costs but David Cameron has insisted it was right to include such expenditure as part of the national campaign.