No, they don't, not if they have broken the election rules and can't flannel their way out of it (or know someone who can make it all go away). That is one of the rules of being elected to Westminster, Holyrood or a Local Council, if you break the rules the election is void and has to be rerun, though nothing stopping you standing again. .
Don't you remember Alex McLeod was dunted because he didn't include the cost of his accommodation in Caithness, when contesting Wick Landward in his local election returns? It doesn't matter even if he didn't actually pay anything for the accommodation, he should have put a financial value on it and declared it as notional spending.
I stood in my home area in 1999 for the local council, but was not living in it at the time....and if I had got in, I might have fallen foul of the rules.....because I thought that staying with my brother and sister-in-law was different to staying at an hotel or a B&B....but I suppose, if they hadn't been there, as I don't drive, I would likely have had to pay for B&B, so I could wander the area going door to door....so I guess it should have counted under estimated expenditure on goods and services that would have been incurred if they had not been provided free of charge or a non-commercial discount of more than 10%.
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