MP denies he was groomed to beat Farage

A Tory MP accused of breaking spending limits at 2015 General Election denied he was ‘parachuted’ in by party chiefs to beat Ukip’s Nigel Farage. Craig Mackinlay, 52, secured a majority of just over 2,800 in south Thanet, Kent, after seeing off the Ukip vote in the 2015 general election. But the MP election agent, along with Nathan Gray, 29, and senior Tory campaign director Marion Little, 63, allegedly spent more than double the legal limit of £52,000. Ukip’s support…