#ThanetRigged: Thanet South 'Fraud' Probe In Seat Where Nigel Farage Was Defeated In The General Election

Fraud Probe Makes #thanetrigged A LOT More Interesting...
United Kingdom Independent Party (UKIP) leader Nigel Farage (R) speaks after he failed to be elected to the parliamentary seat of Thanet South in Margate, southeast England, on May 8, 2015 during the British general election. Farage announced his resignation as leader of the anti-EU UKIP after he failed to win a seat in Britain's parliament. AFP PHOTO / NIKLAS HALLE'N (Photo credit should read NIKLAS HALLE'N/AFP/Getty Images)
United Kingdom Independent Party (UKIP) leader Nigel Farage (R) speaks after he failed to be elected to the parliamentary seat of Thanet South in Margate, southeast England, on May 8, 2015 during the British general election. Farage announced his resignation as leader of the anti-EU UKIP after he failed to win a seat in Britain's parliament. AFP PHOTO / NIKLAS HALLE'N (Photo credit should read NIKLAS HALLE'N/AFP/Getty Images)
NIKLAS HALLE'N via Getty Images

Police are looking into an allegation of electoral fraud in Thanet South, the seat which Ukip's Nigel Farage failed to win on Thursday night.

Mr Farage lost out in the General Election to the Conservatives' Craig Mackinlay who racked up 18,838 votes to Mr Farage's 16,026.

Claims of suspicious behaviour surfaced following a lengthy delay in declaring the seat's results at Margate's Winter Gardens.

A Kent Police spokesman said: "Kent Police has received a report of electoral fraud. Inquiries are ongoing."

But angry Ukippers used #ThanetRigged when Ukip claimed victory in the local council election, with the party taking control of the authority.

Some users said that Ukip's local council triumph so soon after Mr Farage's defeat pointed to suspicious behaviour in the parliamentary contest.

Authorities were quick to pour cold water on the conspiracy theorists, saying that it was a matter of boundaries.

They also began to target journalist Isabel Hardman, who said she had word Farage had lost, but said so before the count had even started.

To which she responded jovially:

The conspiracies still continued today however:

The rest of Twitter has also helpfully pointed out their own theories to support a Thanet South conspiracy:

The real reason for the local council/Westminster split, however, may be a lot more simple. The constituency turnout was 70% for the general election, but historically only sat at 40% in the locals.

So what's really happened, it seems, is that Ukip voters were the only ones who actually bothered to turn in their ballots in the local elections while Tories and Labourites ignored the councils and just voted in the general election, letting the Conservative candidate cling to power.

Mr Farage quit as Ukip leader after he failed to win, but his resignation was rejected by the party's national executive committee and he remains as leader.

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#ThanetRigged: Ukip Voters Think There Was A Conspiracy To Keep Nigel Farage Out Of Parliament

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