PM insists: 'I’m confident we can answer all questions that are being asked'

But it's the first time he has appeared to acknowledge some expenses may not have been declared in

David Cameron (pictured on ITV's Peston on Sunday show today) indicated that Tory chairman Lord Feldman may have inadvertently ‘mis-declared’ or ‘left out’ vital General Election expenses

Tory chairman Lord Feldman may have inadvertently ‘mis-declared’ or ‘left out’ vital General Election expenses, David Cameron indicated today – as he insisted the party would co-operate with a growing fraud inquiry.

Ten police forces and the Electoral Commission are now investigating claims that the Conservative Party spent thousands of pounds more than the law allows in marginal seats across the country during last year’s election.

The Prime Minister insisted today that the party had not ‘done anything wrong’.

But he appeared to acknowledge that some expenses may not have been declared in compliance with the letter of the law.

Asked if Lord Feldman would have to resign, Mr Cameron told ITV’s Peston on Sunday programme: ‘Well, I don’t believe we have done anything wrong. If there were mis-declarations or things left out we have to put those in place, but I’m confident we can answer all the questions that are being put to us.’

An investigation by Channel Four News and the Daily Mail has revealed concerns about whether the accommodation costs of activists bussed around the country by the Tories to campaign in key constituencies were recorded properly.

In many cases, expenses appear to have been recorded as national expenses, or not recorded at all, rather than added to the costs in the constituencies where the campaigning took place.

Deliberate breach of spending limits by individual candidates – usually around £15,000 – is a criminal offence punishable by a fine or even a one-year jail term.

Any MP found guilty would be barred automatically from holding public office for three years, triggering a new election. In theory, the Conservatives could lose their 12-seat majority if cases are proved.

Mr Cameron yesterday said it was normal practice to record so-called ‘battlebus’ expenses as national campaign spending, rather than adding it to the total in the seats where the campaigning took place.

He said: ‘In the end, I’m responsible for everything but I’m very confident that the Conservative Party is gripping this with the chairman Andrew Feldman.

‘You know, lots of political parties have these bus tours, you know buses that go around different constituencies and that is a national expense. But this is all now in conversation with the Electoral Commission and these are their investigations so we should let that take its place.

‘But I’m confident that the idea of a bus that is a national bus that visits constituencies, I think the Labour Party’s done that, the Liberals have done it, we’ve done it.’

Asked whether Tory chairman Lord Feldman (pictured left) should resign, David Cameron (pictured right) told ITV’s Peston on Sunday programme: ‘Well, I don’t believe we have done anything wrong. If there were mis-declarations or things left out we have to put those in place, but I’m confident we can answer all the questions that are being put to us’

Ten police forces and the Electoral Commission are now investigating claims that the Conservative Party spent thousands of pounds more than the law allows in marginal seats across the country during last year’s election

SNP MP Pete Wishart wrote to the Metropolitan Police tonight to call for a wider investigation into whether the Conservatives attempted to subvert the Representation of the People Act.

He wrote: ‘Currently there are some 10 police forces investigating the electoral expenditure of some 28 Conservative candidates who contested the 2015 General Election.

‘Where the ongoing cases will take their legal course, the Conservative Party as a whole must be properly investigated to ascertain if there was any systematic attempt to circumvent electoral legislation defining candidate and national expenditure.’

The Electoral Commission has accused the Conservatives of dragging its feet over the issue. Earlier this month it took the unprecedented step of taking High Court action to force the release of campaign spending details by the party.

The Tories deny wrongdoing and blame an ‘administrative error’ for failing to register some accommodation costs. They also blamed an ‘administrative error’ for failure to declare costs related to its battlebus campaign in marginal seats in the South West, the Midlands the North.

The ‘Road Trip’ battlebus campaign was the brainchild of Mark Clarke, the so-called ‘Tatler Tory’ later accused of bullying Elliott Johnson, a 21-year-old activist who committed suicide. Mr Clarke, who was once tipped as a future minister by society magazine Tatler, denies the allegations.