The Electoral Commission has done the impossible
To judge from this week's High Court ruling, Britain's electoral commission appears to have managed something which I would have thought impossible.
The Electoral Commission seem to have provided both the Leave and Remain campaigns with valid reasons to be furious with them.
The High Court judgement, while not entirely absolving the Leave campaign of having acted incorrectly, strongly criticised the advice given by the Electoral Commission who they accused of having misunderstood the law.
Campaigners from the Good Law Project (GLP) won a legal challenge against the Electoral Commission over election spending by Vote Leave, arguing that the watchdog failed in its duty to regulate the referendum process.
The High Court agreed with the Good Law project and the Electoral Commission that Vote Leave had broken the rules, but also found that the Electoral Commission had misinterpreted the rules in the advice it gave to the campaign.
Jolyon Maugham, director of the Good Law Project, was quoted in The Independent as saying
"It is now clear that the Electoral Commission gave unlawful advice that encouraged Vote Leave to carry on spending. And it gave it selectively – no such advice was given to Stronger In."
Matthew Elliott of Vote Leave was equally scathing, describing the position his campaign had been put in as a “complete Alice in Wonderland situation,” and adding
“Vote Leave asked for, and received, the Electoral Commission’s advice. We followed that advice.
“During the judicial review, the Electoral Commission tried to avoid admitting that it had given that advice to us, but we were able to establish that they had – and the judges clearly ruled in the preliminary hearing that we had received that advice.
“Yet we are now told that, by having followed that advice, we broke the law.”
Remainers are understandably furious that the Leave campaign was encouraged to go on spending in ways that they were not.
Leavers are understandably furious that they were encouraged to go on spending in ways which have put them in the position of being told they have broken the law and fined.
I think both have a point.
Both agree on one thing - the Electoral Commission has made a complete hash of things.
Maugham called for heads to roll at the Electoral Commission, and there is a powerful article at Conservative Home here which argues that this court judgement shows that the commission is not fit for purpose.
You can read the full court judgement here.
The Electoral Commission seem to have provided both the Leave and Remain campaigns with valid reasons to be furious with them.
The High Court judgement, while not entirely absolving the Leave campaign of having acted incorrectly, strongly criticised the advice given by the Electoral Commission who they accused of having misunderstood the law.
Campaigners from the Good Law Project (GLP) won a legal challenge against the Electoral Commission over election spending by Vote Leave, arguing that the watchdog failed in its duty to regulate the referendum process.
The High Court agreed with the Good Law project and the Electoral Commission that Vote Leave had broken the rules, but also found that the Electoral Commission had misinterpreted the rules in the advice it gave to the campaign.
Jolyon Maugham, director of the Good Law Project, was quoted in The Independent as saying
"It is now clear that the Electoral Commission gave unlawful advice that encouraged Vote Leave to carry on spending. And it gave it selectively – no such advice was given to Stronger In."
Matthew Elliott of Vote Leave was equally scathing, describing the position his campaign had been put in as a “complete Alice in Wonderland situation,” and adding
“Vote Leave asked for, and received, the Electoral Commission’s advice. We followed that advice.
“During the judicial review, the Electoral Commission tried to avoid admitting that it had given that advice to us, but we were able to establish that they had – and the judges clearly ruled in the preliminary hearing that we had received that advice.
“Yet we are now told that, by having followed that advice, we broke the law.”
Remainers are understandably furious that the Leave campaign was encouraged to go on spending in ways that they were not.
Leavers are understandably furious that they were encouraged to go on spending in ways which have put them in the position of being told they have broken the law and fined.
I think both have a point.
Both agree on one thing - the Electoral Commission has made a complete hash of things.
Maugham called for heads to roll at the Electoral Commission, and there is a powerful article at Conservative Home here which argues that this court judgement shows that the commission is not fit for purpose.
You can read the full court judgement here.
Comments