Campaign cost for referendum

THE most recent referendum in Britain over the Alternative Vote electoral system in May this year saw both campaigns forced to stick to a spending limit of £5 million each.

Both campaigns were handed a public grant of up to £380,000 each, referendum broadcasts, a free delivery of campaign material to voters and the use of public rooms.

However, analysis published this year showed that the defeated YES! To Fairer Votes campaign had outspent the anti-AV campaign by £3.4m to £2.6m, with most of the yes vote funding coming from the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust and the Electoral Reform Society (ERS).

In the 1975 referendum on the UK’s membership of the European Economic Community (EEC) the Labour government of the day sent a pamphlet to every household in Britain in support of EEC membership.

The “Yes” campaign enjoyed much more funding, thanks to the support of businesses and the Confederation of British Industry.

John Mills, the national agent of the “No” campaign recalled: “We were operating on a shoe-string compared to the Rolls-Royce operation on the other side.”