TOMMY Sheridan’s Solidarity has been kicked off the UK register of political parties and barred from fielding election candidates.
The Electoral Commission “statutorily de-registered” Solidarity last week after it failed to lodge essential paperwork on time.
Solidarity treasurer Gordon Morgan last night said he was unaware the party was no longer registered and blamed himself for an administrative error.
Under electoral law, all parties must pay £25 to file an annual statement with the watchdog confirming their name, office bearers, address and other details.
Any party which fails to do so is automatically removed from the official register of parties, meaning Solidarity is currently unable to stand candidates under a party banner.
It also means anyone else can now register a party called Solidarity, or register the name Hope Over Fear, which Solidarity had also protected for its sole use.
Around 35 of the 450 parties in the UK have been similarly deregistered this year.
Solidarity was set up by Sheridan in 2006 when he split from the Scottish Socialists over his decision to sue the News of the World after it claimed he was a swinger.
He was subsequently jailed for perjuring himself in his defamation action.
Last week he graduated from Strathclyde University with a law degree.
The Sunday Herald recently revealed Solidarity had registered six variants of the name “Hope Over Fear” for possible use on ballot papers in next May’s Holyrood election.
The move fuelled speculation that Sheridan, 50, plans to use his pro-independence Hope over Fear speaking tour as a springboard for a political comeback next year.
He will be a list candidate in Glasgow, where he was an MSP from 1999 to 2007.
Until now, Solidarity has never failed to file its paperwork on time.
However after missing its October 31 deadline, it was deregistered on November 4.
Morgan said: “This is a mistake on my part and I will rectify it. We have not let it lapse.”
To get back on the register, Solidarity must now make a fresh application and pay £150.
Told about the fee, Morgan said: “Oh for f***’s sake. Oh s***.”
He also insisted Solidarity only registered the name Hope Over Fear to stop others using it, but admitted: “If we’ve lapsed anyone could f***ing use it.”
An Electoral Commission spokeswoman said: “As we did not receive the notification and fee by 31 October 2015, we removed the party from the register on 4 November 2015. This means that the party would need to make a fresh application to re-register and pay the full £150 registration fee. The party has remained on the register since 2006 without any breaks.”
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