Conservative Craig Mackinlay has been charged with criminal offences over his election expenses for the 2015 general election

A Conservative charged with election expenses fraud has slammed the CPS for announcing his prosecution a week before the election.

Crag Mackinlay denied the two charges against him and insisted his re-election campaign would continue until June 8.

The Tory politician questioned why the CPS had chosen to make its announcement today when prosecutors have held the file on him since April and did not have to make a decision until June 11, after the general election.

Mr Mackinlay was backed by Prime Minister Theresa May today. She said the allegation was 'unfounded' and he was 'innocent until proven guilty'.

He remains on the ballot paper as the Conservative candidate in Thanet South and the charges make no change to his status as a candidate.

A senior Tory last night accused the CPS of ‘deeply cynical timing’ as the deadline for the decision is not until the Sunday after the general election.

Mr Mackinlay, 50, together with Nathan Gray, 28, and Tory staffer Marion Little, 62, who have both also been charged in connection with the case, is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on July 4.

He is accused of two counts of knowingly filing a false declaration of his election expenses following the 2015 general election.

The charges relate to support to his campaign from the central party, including work done by senior May aide Nick Timothy, which were recorded on the national party campaign.

Mr Mackinlay is alleged to have known they should have properly been declared on his local spending return and that doing so would have meant he would have breached strict limits.

Mr Mackinlay (pictured last month) has always denied any wrong doing in relation to his 2015 election campaign

Despite being charged, Mr Mackinlay is still on the ballot paper as a Conservative candidate at next week's general election

INQUIRY TRIGGERED BY EXPENSES FOR ACTIVISTS Craig Mackinlay defeated Nigel Farage in South Thanet by 2,812 votes at the 2015 general election. The party declared local expenses totalling £14,837.77, putting Mr Mackinlay £178.61 under the spending limit for individual candidates. But an Electoral Commission investigation found it had not included expenditure including a £15,641 bill for rooms at a local hotel used by supporters including Nick Timothy, now Mrs May’s chief-of-staff. The Conservatives argued that the hotel bill had been included as national spending because party supporters there had been working on their national anti-Ukip campaign rather than helping Mr Mackinlay specifically. There is no suggestion of any wrongdoing by Mr Timothy. Under the 1983 Representation of the People Act, candidates and agents must sign declarations to state that their expenses returns are complete. The maximum sentence for knowingly making a false declaration is one year in prison or a fine. If found guilty, Mr Mackinlay would lose his seat and a by-election would have to take place. Last month the CPS separately said it had considered files from 14 police forces regarding spending on battle buses but had decided not to bring charges against any other Tory MPs or officials. It said that while campaign spending returns may have been inaccurate there was insufficient evidence to prove that any candidate or agent acted dishonestly. The investigations centred on claims that expenses relating to busloads of Conservative activists sent to key seats were wrongly reported as part of the party’s national spending rather than in the candidates’ local returns. Advertisement

Announcing the charges this morning, Nick Vamos, CPS Head of Special Crime, said: 'On 18 April we received a file of evidence from Kent Police concerning allegations relating to Conservative Party expenditure during the 2015 General Election campaign.

'We then asked for additional enquiries to be made in advance of the 11 June statutory time limit by when any charges needed to be authorised.

'Those enquiries have now been completed and we have considered the evidence in accordance with the Code for Crown Prosecutors.

'We have concluded there is sufficient evidence and it is in the public interest to authorise charges against three people.

'Craig Mackinlay, 50, Nathan Gray, 28, and Marion Little, 62, have each been charged with offences under the Representation of the People Act 1983 and are due to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on 4 July 2017.

'Criminal proceedings have now commenced and it is extremely important that there should be no reporting, commentary or sharing of information online which could in any way prejudice these proceedings.'

In a statement following the announcement, Mr Mackinlay said: 'My candidature in South Thanet is entirely unaffected and my campaign continues as before. I will not let this decision affect the hard work I do for my constituents and the hard work I hope to do for them after 8th June.

'Our justice system is underpinned by the presumption of innocence and I am confident that I will be acquitted as I have done nothing wrong and acted honestly and properly whilst a candidate in 2015, and as all candidates do, acted upon advice throughout.

'Clearly this is a shocking decision by the CPS, given that I've done nothing wrong and I am confident that this will be made very clear as the matter progresses.

'I am very disappointed with the way this has been handled by the CPS and Kent Police, and I must question the timing of this decision given that Kent Police confirmed on 18th April that their file had been sent to the CPS to review and make their decision: why leave this until a few days before the election?'

The Thanet South politician (right), who beat Nigel Farage into second place, is on the ballot paper for re-election at next week's general election

Commenting on the CPS announcement during a campaign visit to Doncaster, Mrs May said: 'The Conservative party continues to believe that these allegations are unfounded.

'Craig Mackinlay is innocent until proven guilty and he remains our candidate.'

Last month the CPS dropped separate investigations into dozens of other Conservatives relating to battle bus visits during the 2015 election campaign.

Mr Mackinlay has been charged with knowingly making a false declaration of his election expenses.

Mr Gray was the election agent in the Thanet South and is charged with failing to deliver a 'true return'.

Ms Little is charged with aiding and abetting the other offences.

A Conservative Party spokesman said: 'The legal authorities have previously cleared Conservative candidates who faced numerous politically motivated and unfounded complaints over the Party's national Battlebus campaigning.

The timing of the charge could not be worse for Theresa May just a week before the election as she attempts to bolster a flagging campaign

'We continue to believe that this remaining allegation is unfounded. Our candidate has made clear that there was no intention by him or his campaigners to engage in any inappropriate activity. We believe that they have done nothing wrong, and we are confident that this will be proven as the matter progresses.

'The individuals remain innocent unless otherwise proven guilty in a court of law. The press, parties and those on social media should be aware of the provisions of the Contempt of Court Act and the strict liability rules against publishing anything which would prejudice the course of justice.

'There is a broad consensus that election law is fragmented, confused and unclear, with two different sets of legislation, and poor guidance from the Electoral Commission. Conservatives are committed to strengthening electoral law to tackle the real and proven cases of corruption that were exposed in Tower Hamlets in 2015.'