Minister cleared of vote rigging

Hewitt always insisted she had done nothing wrong

Trade Secretary Patricia Hewitt has been cleared of vote rigging in May's local elections, Leicestershire Police have announced.

Reports had suggested that Ms Hewitt, who is MP for Leicester West, visited voters' homes with two Labour candidates who persuaded voters to fill in and hand over postal ballots.

But Leicestershire Police said it and the Crown Prosecution Service were satisfied there had been no breach of electoral law.

Ms Hewitt had always denied that she and Leicester City councillors Mansukhla Chohan and Manjula Sood, had broken any laws or breached Labour's own guidelines.

It was not true that she had watched as one candidate persuaded a voter to cross their ballot paper, she said.

Leicestershire Police said in a statement on Tuesday: "The Leicestershire Constabulary investigation into the possible misuse of postal votes in the recent local elections is now complete.

"The Crown Prosecution Service are satisfied that in this instance there is no evidence of any breach of electoral law and the investigation is now closed."