Published: 1 September 2013

EXCLUSIVE by RICHARD OSLEY

THE Conservative candidate who fell just 42 votes short of unseating Labour's Glenda Jackson has asked Camden's most senior police officer to investigate claims by violinist Nigel Kennedy that he allowed to a friend to use his wife's election voting card.

Mr Kennedy was asked by the Guardian newspaper whether he had voted for Ms Jackson in 2010 for an interview published yesterday (Saturday). He is quoted by the highly-regarded interviewer Decca Aitkenhead as saying: "Oh yeah. In fact, my wife wasn’t there, so I got another friend to go and vote for Jackson with my wife’s voting card. Yeah, yeah, man, and it was really worth it in that case.”

Today, Chris Philp, the Conservative candidate three years ago, made a formal complaint about the comments to Chief Superintendent BJ Harrington to investigate the comments. In his complaint to police, Mr Philp said: "At the 2010 General Election, I was the Conservative Parliamentary Candidate in Hampstead & Kilburn. I lost to Glenda Jackson by just 42 votes out of around 53,000 cast. I note from yesterday's Guardian that the violinist Nigel Kennedy boasted in an interview that he had got a friend to vote on behalf of his wife. This is, I think, an offence under Section 60 of the Representation of the People Act 1983 and possibly other statutes. Impersonating another voter is serious, and although it was only one vote I think these things do need to be properly followed up and prosecuted if an offence has occurred. I do not think that it would be appropriate for a public figure like Mr Kennedy to boast in a national newspaper about committing a criminal offence – one that undermines the functioning of our democracy – and get away with it."

PIC: FLICKR/WELOVETHESKY