Huge debts of Tory candidate leave voters with prospect of disqualified MP

One of the Tories’ star PPCs has been reported as having defaulted on ‘debts’ of nearly £325,000. The Mirror reveals that Bristol East candidate Adeela Shafi, who was hand picked by Cameron to open for him at Conservative conference in 2008, has ”has had three county court judgments against her since 2007″.

The Insolvency Act 1986 and Enterprise Act 2002 outlaw undischarged bankrupts from standing for Westminster and provide for bankrupt MPs to be turfed out. Application for a bankruptcy petition by creditors (her husband was declared insolvent in 2000) could leave the Tories without a candidate or, should Shafi pull off a shock win in Bristol East, a Member of Parliament. Scrapbook doubts this is the kind of gamble voters will plump for on May 6.

The bombshell leaves Shafi open to allegations of recklessness from fellow Tories and recalls the recent case of the SNP’s original candidate in the Glasgow North East by-election, who was forced to stand down within five days of selection after failing to declare serious financial problems.

This is the kind of campaign development that party staffers dread and the stuff of absolute nightmares for election agents. What’s that sound?

The wheels coming off one of the Tories’ most visible campaigns.

9 Comments

  1. Posted February 1, 2010 at 12:00 pm | Permalink

    Mmmm. This raises some questions about all those feral conbloggers launching an appeal and an attack programme for this seat.

  2. Posted February 1, 2010 at 12:30 pm | Permalink

    All I can say is #KerryIN

  3. Posted February 1, 2010 at 3:36 pm | Permalink
  4. Posted February 1, 2010 at 3:51 pm | Permalink

    The CCJ may or may not be outstanding (if it is the latter then CCHQs ‘no comment’ response is senseless media suicide) however creditors don’t escalate their dispute with debtors to the courts as soon as they miss a single payment/deadline.

    To avoid the extra time and expense involved with a CCJ it is reasonable to assume that whichever body was owed this money went through some process of trying to recover it without success – it is in this sense that Mrs Shafi has “defaulted”.

  5. Posted February 1, 2010 at 4:18 pm | Permalink

    How is it reasonable to assume that?

    Given the potential implications, which this post indicates you are clearly aware of, don’t you think you should perhaps do a bit more research?

  6. Sam
    Posted February 12, 2010 at 7:50 am | Permalink

    This is disguesting realy, I don’t beleive this that someone can owe that much. some kind of game is being played with you adeela, but you don’t worry, keep going and hopefully when you will get there then everyone will be fine with you. We are with you

  7. Sam
    Posted February 12, 2010 at 7:57 am | Permalink

    Kerrrrrrrrrry you woooooooont caaaaaarrrrrrrrryyyy…….. Kerrryyyy ouuutt

  8. Paul Green
    Posted March 1, 2010 at 7:52 am | Permalink

    #KerryIn

    Adeela Shafi cannot be trusted

    Join the #AdeelaBLOCKOUT campaign

  9. paul, bristol, bs5
    Posted May 4, 2010 at 10:52 pm | Permalink

    Avon and Somerset Police spokeswoman Catherine Foster has said: “Bristol City Council have contacted Avon and Somerset police this evening about a possible alleged breach of electoral law’.

    In view of this – if Kerry McCarthy is being investigated by the Police, would this mean that she would be automatically disqualified from standing for election?

34 Trackbacks

  1. By Political Scrapbook on February 1, 2010 at 11:46 am

    New post –> Huge debts of Tory PPC leave voters with prospect of disqualified MP http://bit.ly/bkba4a

  2. By Rosie Hucklesby on February 1, 2010 at 11:48 am

    RT @psbook: New post –> Huge debts of Tory PPC leave voters with prospect of disqualified MP http://bit.ly/bkba4a

  3. By Luke Richards on February 1, 2010 at 11:50 am

    RT @psbook: New post –> Huge debts of Tory PPC leave voters with prospect of disqualified MP http://bit.ly/bkba4a

  4. By Chris Paul on February 1, 2010 at 11:54 am

    RT @rosiehucklesby: RT @psbook: New post –> Huge debts of Tory PPC leave voters with prospect of disqualified MP http://bit.ly/bkba4a

  5. By Tweet4Labour on February 1, 2010 at 11:54 am

    RT @rosiehucklesby: RT @psbook: New post –> Huge debts of Tory PPC leave voters with prospect of disqualified MP http://bit.ly/bkba4a

  6. By Billy McCauley on February 1, 2010 at 11:58 am

    RT @rosiehucklesby: RT @psbook: New post –> Huge debts of Tory PPC leave voters with prospect of disqualified MP http://bit.ly/bkba4a

  7. By S Smethurst-McIntyre on February 1, 2010 at 12:03 pm

    RT @psbook New post Huge debts of Tory PPC leave voters with prospect of disqualified MP http://bit.ly/bkba4a – potential blow to #kerryout

  8. By Claire Spencer on February 1, 2010 at 12:04 pm

    RT @BevaniteEllie: Oh dear…RT @psbook: New post: Huge debts of Tory PPC leave voters with prospect of disqualified MP http://bit.ly/bkba4a

  9. By Ben Cooper on February 1, 2010 at 12:07 pm

    RT @BevaniteEllie: Oh dear…RT @psbook: New post –> Huge debts of Tory PPC leave voters with prospect of disqualified MP http://bit.ly/bkba4a

  10. By Sunder Katwala on February 1, 2010 at 12:10 pm

    RT @psbook Huge debts of Tory PPC [Adeela Shafi] leave voters with prospect of disqualified MP http://bit.ly/bkba4a

  11. By topsy_top20k_en on February 1, 2010 at 12:10 pm

    New post –> Huge debts of Tory PPC leave voters with prospect of disqualified MP http://bit.ly/bkba4a

  12. By Chris Paul on February 1, 2010 at 12:10 pm

    wonders where @torybear @guidofawkes @iaindale @shanegreer and other childish #conbloggers are on http://bit.ly/bkba4a? gone for a #carryout

  13. By Dave Edwards on February 1, 2010 at 12:14 pm

    RT @ChrispLOL wonders where @torybear @guidofawkes @iaindale @shanegreer and other childish #conbloggers are on http://bit.ly/bkba4a

  14. By Richard Blogger on February 1, 2010 at 12:14 pm

    Tory opponent of @MerryMP has defaulted on £325K That's Tory austerity! #MobMonday http://j.mp/d9xRle

  15. By Richard Blogger on February 1, 2010 at 12:15 pm

    RT @richardblogger: Tory opponent of @KerryMP has defaulted on £325K That's Tory austerity! #MobMonday http://j.mp/d9xRle

  16. By James Cowley on February 1, 2010 at 12:25 pm

    RT @psbook: New post –> Huge debts of Tory PPC leave voters with prospect of disqualified MP http://bit.ly/bkba4a

  17. By James Cowley on February 1, 2010 at 12:26 pm

    RT: @psbook New post –> Huge debts of Tory PPC leave voters with prospect of disqualified MP http://bit.ly/bkba4a (@KerryMP)

  18. By Tristan Osborne on February 1, 2010 at 12:27 pm

    RT @psbook: New post –> Huge debts of Tory PPC leave voters with prospect of disqualified MP http://bit.ly/bkba4a

  19. By Chris Paul on February 1, 2010 at 12:32 pm

    RT @jamescowley: RT: @psbook New post –> Huge debts of Tory PPC leave voters with prospect of disqualified MP http://bit.ly/bkba4a ( …

  20. By James Cowley on February 1, 2010 at 12:58 pm

    RT @snookcocker: RT @ChrispLOL wonders where @torybear @guidofawkes @iaindale @shanegreer and other childish http://bit.ly/bkba4a

  21. [...] Hat Tip – Political Scrapbook [...]

  22. By Labour List on February 1, 2010 at 1:05 pm

    RT @PSBook New post –> Huge debts of Tory PPC leave voters with prospect of disqualified MP http://bit.ly/bkba4a

  23. By Tom Scholes-Fogg on February 1, 2010 at 1:06 pm

    RT @psbook New post –> Huge debts of Tory PPC leave voters with prospect of disqualified MP http://bit.ly/bkba4a

  24. By Rossanna Trudgian on February 1, 2010 at 1:08 pm

    RT @PSBook New post –> Huge debts of Tory PPC leave voters with prospect of disqualified MP http://bit.ly/bkba4a [via @LabourList @KerryMP]

  25. By Darren Lewis on February 1, 2010 at 1:20 pm

    RT @psbook: New post –> Huge debts of Tory PPC leave voters with prospect of disqualified MP http://bit.ly/bkba4a

  26. By Steve Woods on February 1, 2010 at 1:26 pm

    RT @psbook: New post –> Huge debts of Tory PPC leave voters with prospect of disqualified MP http://bit.ly/bkba4a

  27. [...] “rising star” to punchline quicker than you can say #kerryout Share With Friends Tagged as: #kerryout, adeela shafi, [...]

  28. By Ashley Mason on February 1, 2010 at 3:25 pm

    RT @psbook: New post –> Huge debts of Tory PPC leave voters with prospect of disqualified MP http://bit.ly/bkba4a

  29. By Tariq Ziyad on February 1, 2010 at 3:31 pm

    RT @psbook: New post –> Huge debts of Tory PPC leave voters with prospect of disqualified MP http://bit.ly/bkba4a

  30. By Garry Dent on February 1, 2010 at 4:37 pm

    RT @psbook: Huge debts of Tory candidate leave voters with prospect of disqualified MP http://bit.ly/bkba4a

  31. By Tudor Evans on February 2, 2010 at 8:08 pm

    RT @psbook: New post –> Huge debts of Tory PPC leave voters with prospect of disqualified MP http://bit.ly/bkba4a

  32. By Tracey Cheetham on February 2, 2010 at 8:14 pm

    RT @psbook: Huge debts of Tory PPC… http://bit.ly/bkba4a <Can't see @ToryBear chasing this one with a camcorder! ;-)

  33. By Emma Burnell on February 2, 2010 at 9:17 pm

    RT @psbook: New post –> Huge debts of Tory PPC leave voters with prospect of disqualified MP http://bit.ly/bkba4a

  34. [...] as the figurehead of a Tory attack campaign that elevated her profile to the point where her parlous financial affairs piqued the interest of a national newspaper. Shafi’s absence from the list of leading Muslim [...]

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