Nigel Farage would 'probably' run again for South Thanet seat if fraud investigation prompts by-election
Nigel Farage would "probably" stand again in the Kent constituency he failed to win at the last election if a fraud investigation prompts a by-election.
The former Ukip leader contested the South Thanet seat in 2015 but was edged out by the Conservatives' Craig Mackinlay, prompting him to offer his resignation as head of the party.
But Kent Police and the Electoral Commission are currently investigating whether the Tories broke the law by failing to properly declare expenses related to the campaign.
Asked whether he would stand in a potential by-election, Mr Farage told BBC One's Sunday Politics he "probably would".
But Mr Farage played down speculation in the Mail On Sunday that his key strategist had passed on a dossier to police containing details of computer logs accessed by Ukip's only MP Douglas Carswell, who defected to the party from the Conservatives.
It claims that Mr Carswell passed details about local voters to the Tories to help them defeat Mr Farage - an allegation he strongly denies.
The former party leader, who has a long-running feud with the Clacton MP, said: "I don't know anything about the dossier.
"I am actually quite dubious as to whether this dossier exists at all. I think perhaps the newspapers have got this wrong.
"Were there concerns about the downloading of data that took place from that constituency? Yes. But beyond that we don't know anything.
"We have evidence that Mr Carswell downloaded information. We have no evidence of what he did with it."