School of Politics and International Relations

Professor Tim Bale, Did Brexit campaigners cheat? And if they did, what does that mean?

31 March 2018

Shahmir Sanni is a whistleblower who alleges that pro-Brexit campaigners in 2016 “cheated” — specifically, that a prominent group run by top Conservative Party figures, including Boris Johnson, broke election law by coordinating campaigns among allied organisations to circumvent spending caps. Political analysts said the accusations of financial cheating will be a boost to the pro-Europeans keen to cast doubt on the legitimacy of the Brexit referendum. Tim Bale, a politics professor at Queen Mary said: “It helps keep a second referendum on the agenda, but it’s not going to be the thing that actually triggers that referendum.” He added: “The only thing that’s actually going to trigger that referendum is MPs in Parliament feeling that the deal is a disaster and that public opinion is beginning to shift.”
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