The Sun spent __more than £96,000 publishing a pullout poster backing Brexit, forcing its parent company, News Group Newspapers, to register as an official leave campaign group with the Electoral Commission.
The poster featuring a union flag and the words “BeLEAVE in Britain”, which had appeared on an earlier front page, was published just a week before the referendum on Britain’s membership of the EU.
Editorially the paper was one of the most vocal backers of leaving the EU, but the double-page spread fell under the Electoral Commission’s rules regulating campaign spending because it was designed to be displayed, even though the money was reported as a payment from NGN to itself.
A spokesman for NGN said: “As part of its campaign for Brexit the Sun ran a pullout poster. In accordance with Electoral Commission guidelines it registered as a participant and has declared the cost.”
The cost of the poster made NGN one of the largest spenders among 48 groups who had their campaign finances revealed by the Electoral Commission on Tuesday, all but two of which spent under £250,000. The remaining 28 groups who spent more, including the official leave and remain campaigns – Vote Leave and Britain Stronger in Europe – will not have their spending published until next year.
The only organisations on the list spending __more than NGN were the pro-remain Global Britain Limited, and leave backers Grassroots Out, Veterans for Britain and fashion student Darren Grimes, who ran the youth-focused group BeLeave.
Both BeLeave and Veterans for Britain received donations from Vote Leave meaning the money did not count towards the £7m spending limit as long as the campaigns did not coordinate their spending.
BeLeave received £625,000 in three payments from Vote Leave on 14, 17 and 23 June, while Veterans for Britain received £100,000 in May. The bulk of spending by both groups went on targeted digital advertising across social media and other outlets.
Facebook was also listed as one of the main recipients of spending, with direct payments to the social media firm totalling almost £340,000 out of just under £3m spent on advertising.