Did The Leave Campaign Break The Law?

The Brexit campaign group Vote Leave was fined £61,000 and referred to the police after an Electoral Commission probe found it broke electoral law. The watchdog said Vote Leave exceeded its £7 million spending limit by funneling £675,315 through the pro-Brexit youth group BeLeave. The Electoral Commission ruled that the two groups were working together and that BeLeave founder Darren Grimes had wrongly reported the spending as his own. The High Court also found that Vote Leave broke the law by giving £625,000 to Grimes ahead of the referendum.

Vote Leave broke the law by spending over its limit

The Brexit campaign group Vote Leave has been found to have broken the law by exceeding its £7 million spending limit. The group was fined £61,000 and referred to the police after an Electoral Commission probe. The commission found that Vote Leave funnelled £675,315 through the pro-Brexit youth group BeLeave, allowing it to exceed its spending limit.

BeLeave was founded by Darren Grimes, who was fined £20,000 and referred to the police, along with Vote Leave official David Halsall. The Electoral Commission ruled that the two groups had been working together and that Grimes had incorrectly reported the spending as his own. This meant that Vote Leave spent a total of £7,449,079, exceeding its limit by almost £500,000.

Vote Leave disputed the findings, claiming that the Electoral Commission's report was “wholly inaccurate” and politically motivated. However, the Electoral Commission maintained that there was “significant evidence of joint working” between the two groups, which constituted a serious breach of the laws put in place to ensure fairness and transparency in elections and referendums.

The High Court of England and Wales also ruled that Vote Leave broke campaign spending limits when it gave £625,000 to Darren Grimes for his BeLeave campaign. This ruling was separate from the Electoral Commission's decision to fine both Vote Leave and Grimes, as it pertained specifically to the question of whether the donation itself should have been counted as expenditure by Vote Leave.

Vote Leave failed to declare money spent on Aggregate IQ

The Electoral Commission found Vote Leave to have failed to declare money it spent on the data firm Aggregate IQ. Vote Leave was the officially designated Brexit-supporting campaign during the 2016 EU referendum. It was supported by senior political figures including Boris Johnson and Michael Gove.

Vote Leave was found to have exceeded its £7 million spending limit by funnelling £675,315 through the pro-Brexit youth group BeLeave, which was run by Darren Grimes, then a fashion student at Brighton University. The money was used to pay the Canadian data firm Aggregate IQ, which had links to Cambridge Analytica and was at the heart of a probe over social media message targeting during the campaign.

Vote Leave had paid £625,000 to Grimes for his BeLeave campaign, but all but £1,000 of it was paid to Aggregate IQ, the online comms firm that ran much of the Brexit campaign. Grimes was fined £20,000 for exceeding the statutory limit for a non-registered campaigner. He was also found to have failed to submit a complete spending return but faced no extra penalty.

Vote Leave was fined £61,000 for breaking electoral law. It was fined £21,000 for two offences of failing to submit a complete spending return, and a further £20,000 for each of two more offences, breaching the spending limit and failing to produce documents by a specified date.

Vote Leave denied the accusations, saying the report was “wholly inaccurate” and that it was “motivated by a political agenda”. It also accused the Electoral Commission of basing its conclusions on "unfounded claims and conspiracy theories".

Vote Leave submitted an inaccurate spending report

Vote Leave was found to have submitted an inaccurate spending report by the UK's Electoral Commission. The watchdog said that Vote Leave exceeded its £7 million spending limit by funnelling £675,315 through the pro-Brexit youth group BeLeave. This meant that, including this amount, the Electoral Commission stated that Vote Leave spent £7,449,079, breaching its £7 million spending limit.

Vote Leave was also found to have submitted an "incomplete and inaccurate spending report", with almost £234,501 reported incorrectly, and invoices missing for £12,849.99 of spending. The Electoral Commission fined Vote Leave £21,000 for two offences of failing to submit a complete spending return, and a further £20,000 for each of two more offences, breaching the spending limit and failing to produce documents by a specified date. In total, Vote Leave was fined £61,000.

Vote Leave has denied any wrongdoing and has accused the Electoral Commission of being "motivated by a political agenda" and basing its conclusions on "unfounded claims and conspiracy theories". The group also claimed that the report contained "a number of false accusations and incorrect assertions that are wholly inaccurate and do not stand up to scrutiny".

The Electoral Commission, however, maintained that there was significant evidence of joint working between Vote Leave and BeLeave, and that the donation from Vote Leave to BeLeave should be counted as Vote Leave expenditure. This conclusion was supported by England and Wales's High Court, which ruled that Vote Leave broke campaign spending limits.

Vote Leave refused to cooperate with the Electoral Commission

Vote Leave's refusal to cooperate with the Electoral Commission was a significant aspect of the investigation into their breach of electoral law. The Electoral Commission is the UK body that oversees elections and regulates political finance, ensuring compliance with the law. In the case of Vote Leave, the Commission found "significant evidence" of coordination with another campaign group, BeLeave, which led to a fine and a police referral for Vote Leave.

Vote Leave's lack of cooperation manifested in several ways. Firstly, they refused to attend interviews, despite multiple requests and offers of interview dates from the Electoral Commission. Secondly, Vote Leave sent legal letters threatening to judicially review the opening of the investigation, and they also made their offer of document inspection contingent on a meeting to discuss closing the investigation—an offer the Commission deemed inappropriate. The documents Vote Leave eventually provided were found to be incorrect or incomplete.

The Electoral Commission's Chief Executive, Claire Bassett, expressed strong criticism of Vote Leave's refusal to cooperate, stating that they had made five attempts to interview Vote Leave over a three-month period. Bob Posner, of the Electoral Commission, also emphasised Vote Leave's resistance to the investigation, including contesting the Commission's right to open it.

Despite Vote Leave's lack of cooperation, the Electoral Commission was able to gather clear and substantial evidence of wrongdoing, leading to their conclusion that Vote Leave broke electoral law. This conclusion was supported by the High Court, which ruled that Vote Leave breached campaign spending limits.

Vote Leave broke the law by donating to other leave campaigners

In July 2018, Vote Leave was fined £61,000 and referred to the police for breaking electoral spending laws. The Electoral Commission found that Vote Leave had exceeded its £7 million spending limit by funnelling £675,315 through the pro-Brexit youth group BeLeave, which was founded by Darren Grimes.

BeLeave spent this money with Aggregate IQ, a Canadian data firm with links to Cambridge Analytica. Vote Leave had also failed to declare money it spent on Aggregate IQ. In total, Vote Leave spent £7,449,079, breaching its limit by almost £500,000.

Vote Leave was also found to have incorrectly reported £234,501 and had missing invoices for £12,849.99. The Electoral Commission concluded that there was “significant evidence of joint working" between Vote Leave and BeLeave, and that Grimes had “wrongly" reported the spending as his own.

In addition to the Electoral Commission's findings, the High Court of England and Wales ruled that Vote Leave broke campaign spending limits when it gave £625,000 to Darren Grimes for his BeLeave campaign. This was a separate matter from the Electoral Commission's fine and police referral. The High Court ruling concluded that the donation should have been counted as expenditure by Vote Leave because it was for a specific purpose and was paid directly to Aggregate IQ rather than to BeLeave.

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