Leave.EU fined £70k for breaching law during 2016 referendum

The group’s chief executive, Liz Bilney, has also been referred to the police in connection with potential criminal offences.

The commission’s investigation found that Leave.EU failed to include at least £77,380 in its spending return, thereby exceeding the spending limit for non-party registered campaigners by at least 10 per cent, but possibly “considerably higher”.

Services the group received from the US campaign strategy firm Goddard Gunster were not included in the spending return, despite a proportion of them having been used during Leave.EU’s referendum campaign.

The commission found Leave.EU inaccurately reported three loans it had received. This included a lack of transparency and incorrect reporting around who provided the loans, the dates the loans were entered into, the repayment date and the interest rate.

Finally, Leave.EU failed to provide the required invoice or receipt for 97 payments of over £200, totalling £80,224.

As part of the investigation, the commission also looked at whether Leave.EU received services from Cambridge Analytica that should have been declared on its spending return. The investigation found no evidence that Leave.EU received donations or paid-for services from Cambridge Analytica for its referendum campaigning and found that the relationship did not develop beyond initial scoping work.

Bob Posner, Electoral Commission director of political finance and regulation & legal counsel, said: “The rules we enforce were put in place by Parliament to ensure transparency and public confidence in our democratic processes. It is therefore disappointing that Leave.EU, a key player in the EU referendum, was unable to abide by these rules.

“Leave.EU exceeded its spending limit and failed to declare its funding and its spending correctly. These are serious offences. The level of fine we have imposed has been constrained by the cap on the Commission’s fines.”