South Thanet was a constituency in Kent.

The 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies made moderate boundary changes to the constituency, which was abolished and reformed as East Thanet, to be first contested at the 2024 general election.

Electoral spending criminal investigation following the 2015 general election

In 2016 an investigation by Channel 4 News revealed that the Conservative Party had spent many thousands of pounds centrally on battlebuses to transport activists, and hotel accommodation for the activists, who went to campaign in marginal constituencies, including South Thanet. The expenditure on the buses was declared by the Conservative Party on its national declaration of "Campaign Spending", but in some cases the hotel accommodation was not declared at all as election spending when it should have been. In addition, there is controversy about whether the expenditure, both on the buses and the accommodation, should have been declared on the declarations of expenditure for the constituency made by each candidate's election agent. Kent Police began an investigation into the spending returns of Craig Mackinlay following the Channel 4 report.

In a court case on 1 June 2016, brought against Mackinlay and his election agent Nathan Gray, District Judge Barron granted more time for investigation saying "In this case, the allegations are far-reaching and the consequences of a conviction would be of a local and national significance with the potential for election results being declared void."

On 14 March 2017, it was reported that Mackinlay had been interviewed under caution by officers investigating the allegations. On 2 June 2017, six days before the 2017 general election, Mackinlay and two Conservative party officials were charged by the Crown Prosecution Service with offences under the Representation of the People Act 1983. They were due to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on 4 July 2017.

On 9 January 2019, Mackinlay was cleared of election expenses fraud. One of the other defendants, Marion Little, was found guilty of two charges and given a nine-month suspended sentence and £5000 fine. She retained the OBE she had been awarded for political service in 2015.

Boundaries