Vote Leave fined and referred to the police for breaking electoral law

Author (Corporate)
Series Title
Series Details 17.07.18
Publication Date 17/07/2018
Content Type

The Electoral Commission published on the 17 July 2018 the conclusions of its investigation into the campaign spending of the pro-Brexit Vote Leave and a number of other campaigners, and had found Vote Leave and Darren Grimes, the founder of the BeLeave campaign group, broke electoral law.

The Commission’s investigation found significant evidence of joint working between the lead campaigner, Vote Leave and another campaign group BeLeave.

The Commission had now referred both Mr David Halsall the responsible person for Vote Leave, and Mr Grimes to the Metropolitan Police in relation to false declarations of campaign spending.

This investigation was separate to an investigation by the Electoral Commission into another pro-Brexit campaigning organisation Leave.eu which had led in May 2018 to fines of £70,000 being imposed for offences committed under electoral law, following an investigation into the campaigner’s funding and spend during the EU referendum.

Further information

In a further separate but connected development a ruling was given on the 14 September 2018 in the England and Wales High Court (Administrative Court) of a case brought by The Good Law Project (GLP) against the Electoral Commission and Vote Leave. The High Court decided that advice given to Vote Leave by the Electoral Commission during the EU referendum campaign in 2016 was wrong. The consequence was that the Commission unlawfully tilted the playing field.

Source Link https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/i-am-a/journalist/electoral-commission-media-centre/news-releases-donations/vote-leave-fined-and-referred-to-the-police-for-breaking-electoral-law
Related Links
BAILII: England and Wales High Court (Administrative Court) Decisions: The Good Law Project, R (On the Application Of) v Electoral Commission & Ors [2018] EWHC 2414 (Admin) (14 September 2018) https://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Admin/2018/2414.html
Good Law Project https://goodlawproject.org/
The Guardian, 14.09.18: [Opinion]: Now the judges agree – the vote for Brexit was clearly tainted https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/sep/14/judges-brexit-vote-eu-referendum-vote-leave
ESO: In Focus: Brexit - The United Kingdom and the European Union http://www.europeansources.info/record/brexit-the-united-kingdom-and-the-european-union/
ESO: Background information: The battle to lead the Brexit campaign http://www.europeansources.info/record/blog-the-battle-to-lead-the-brexit-campaign/
Electoral Commission: Report, July 2018: Report on an investigation in respect of Vote Leave Limited, Mr Darren Grimes, BeLeave and Veterans for Britain http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0019/244900/Report-of-an-investigation-in-respect-of-Vote-Leave-Limited-Mr-Darren-Grimes-BeLeave-and-Veterans-for-Britain.pdf
BBC News, 17.07.18: Vote Leave: Brexit campaign 'broke electoral law' in referendum https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-44856992
BBC News: Tag: Vote Leave investigation https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/topics/cpz72d0xmm7t/vote-leave-investigation
The Guardian, 17.07.18: Vote Leave fined and reported to police by Electoral Commission https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/jul/17/vote-leave-fined-and-reported-to-police-by-electoral-commission-brexit
United Kingdom: Parliament: House of Commons: Debate Pack, No.CDP-2018-0202 (07.09.18): E-petition 223729 relating to rescinding Article 50 if the Vote Leave campaign broke electoral laws http://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CDP-2018-0202/CDP-2018-0202.pdf
Good Law Project: News, 04.10.18: Another defeat for the Electoral Commission https://goodlawproject.org/another-defeat-electoral-commission/

Countries / Regions