Referendum campaigns combine political organization, regulated finance and a large public voting operation. The figures below focus on the 2016 EU referendum in the UK and the Scottish independence referendum, using Electoral Commission reports and results pages for the relevant measurement periods.
Contents
- EU referendum campaign landscape
- Spending, donations and loans
- The cost of delivering the vote
- Participation and the national result
- Regional patterns across the UK
- Scottish independence referendum campaign statistics
EU referendum campaign landscape
The Electoral Commission’s EU referendum campaign regulation report recorded 123 campaigners registered from 1 February 2016. Of these, 63 supported Remain and 60 supported Leave. The EU referendum spending framework therefore covered a nearly even split of registered campaign groups, with three more registered on the Remain side.
The Electoral Commission’s EU referendum spending page also records 123 registered campaign groups participating in the framework. Two official lead campaign groups were designated by the Electoral Commission: The In Campaign Ltd for Remain and Vote Leave Ltd for Leave. Their reported spending was close, although the figures were not identical. The In Campaign Ltd reported £6,767,584, while Vote Leave Ltd reported £6,742,466.
Political parties that registered to campaign reported £9,030,300 in spending. The 58 other registered campaigners reported £10,101,809. The two designated lead campaigners together reported £13,510,049, according to the Electoral Commission’s EU referendum campaign regulation report.
These categories describe different parts of the regulated campaign field. The 123 campaigners are the registered participants, while the lead groups, registered political parties and other campaigners are spending categories reported in the regulation material. They should not be added together without accounting for how the report defines each category.
Spending, donations and loans
Registered campaigners reported total EU referendum spending of £32,642,158. They also reported accepting £30,714,106 in donations and £6,071,940 in loans. These are reported campaign-finance totals for the EU referendum, not estimates of every political or media cost associated with the wider public debate.
The Electoral Commission’s EU referendum campaign spending page records £19,309,588 in spending by Remain campaigners and £13,332,569 by Leave campaigners. The reported Remain total was therefore higher in the campaign-spending figures, while the reported donation totals show a narrower difference between the sides.
| Measure | Leave side | Remain side |
|---|---|---|
| Reported donations | £15,854,432 | £14,859,674 |
| Share of reported donations | 52% | 48% |
| Reported campaign spending | £13,332,569 | £19,309,588 |
According to the Electoral Commission’s EU referendum campaign regulation report, reported donations to Leave-side campaigners totaled £15,854,432. Remain-side campaigners reported £14,859,674. Leave-side donations represented 52% of total reported EU referendum donations, compared with 48% for Remain-side donations.
The figures show why spending and donations are separate measures. Donations record money accepted by campaigners, whereas spending records reported expenditure. The dataset also reports loans separately, at £6,071,940, so loans should not be treated as donations or silently folded into either side’s donation share.
For the two designated lead groups, spending was reported at £6,767,584 for The In Campaign Ltd and £6,742,466 for Vote Leave Ltd. The lead-group totals were close to one another even though the broader side totals were not: Remain campaigners’ reported spending was £19,309,588, while Leave campaigners’ was £13,332,569.
The cost of delivering the vote
The Electoral Commission’s EU referendum cost report put the total cost of delivering the referendum at £129.128 million. The Commission’s own operating costs were £7.998 million, including £1.642 million in direct staff costs and £6.025 million for public awareness activity.
The same cost report records £0.331 million for administration of RCO and CO claims and £1.200 million in grants to designated organizations. Designated-organization mailings and other Royal Mail costs totaled £25.389 million. RCO and CO costs totaled £94.541 million.
The mailing operation was a substantial part of the delivery budget. Vote Leave’s mailing was delivered to 44,936,142 recipients and cost £12.942 million. Britain Stronger in Europe’s mailing was delivered to 40,760,719 recipients and cost £11.739 million. Campaign mailings accounted for £24.681 million within the EU referendum Royal Mail bill.
The delivery budget also included £0.202 million for final-day sweeps and £0.063 million for International Business Response Licence costs. The Electoral Commission distributed 28 million information booklets to households across the UK. These figures describe the administrative and information-delivery operation, rather than campaign spending by registered political participants.
The cost report records 11 electoral regions in Great Britain for regional counting officer administration. That administrative structure sits alongside the separate result geography used to report the referendum outcome, which included regions in Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Participation and the national result
The Electoral Commission’s EU referendum results page records a UK electorate of 46,500,001 and turnout of 72.2%. The national result was 17,410,742 Leave votes against 16,141,241 Remain votes. Rejected ballots totaled 25,359.
The headline result therefore came from more than 33.5 million recorded votes for the two options, alongside a smaller count of rejected ballots. The turnout figure is the reported share of the electorate participating, while the vote totals are the reported national counts. They are different measurements and should not be treated as interchangeable.
Postal voting was another significant part of participation. More than 8.5 million postal votes were issued, representing 18.4% of the UK electorate. The Electoral Commission’s EU referendum cost report records 7.3 million postal votes returned, equal to 87.6% of those issued.
The postal figures refer to issued and returned postal votes, while the national result page reports votes for Leave, Remain and rejected ballots. Keeping those denominators distinct matters when describing participation: the 87.6% figure is a return rate among issued postal votes, not turnout among the entire electorate.
Regional patterns across the UK
The regional results show a clear geographic split. Leave led in the East, East Midlands, North East, North West, South East, South West, Wales, West Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber. Remain led in London, Northern Ireland and Scotland.
| Region | Leave | Remain | Turnout |
|---|---|---|---|
| East | 1,880,367 | 1,448,616 | 75.7% |
| East Midlands | 1,475,479 | 1,033,036 | 74.2% |
| London | 1,513,232 | 2,263,519 | 69.7% |
| Scotland | 1,018,322 | 1,661,191 | 67.2% |
| South East | 2,567,965 | 2,391,718 | 76.8% |
| Wales | 854,572 | 772,347 | 71.7% |
In the East, Leave received 1,880,367 votes and Remain 1,448,616. The region had an electorate of 4,398,796, turnout of 75.7%, 3,328,983 valid votes and 2,329 rejected ballots. In the East Midlands, Leave received 1,475,479 and Remain 1,033,036; turnout was 74.2% across an electorate of 3,384,299, with 2,508,515 valid votes and 1,981 rejected ballots.
London produced the opposite pattern: Remain received 2,263,519 and Leave 1,513,232. London turnout was 69.7% from an electorate of 5,424,768, with 3,776,751 valid votes and 4,453 rejected ballots. In the North East, Leave led 778,103 to 562,595; turnout was 69.3% from an electorate of 1,934,341, with 1,340,698 valid votes and 689 rejected ballots.
In the North West, Leave received 1,966,925 and Remain 1,699,020. Turnout was 70.0% from an electorate of 5,241,568, with 3,665,945 valid votes and 2,682 rejected ballots. Northern Ireland recorded a Remain lead of 440,707 to 349,442, turnout of 62.7%, an electorate of 1,260,955, 790,149 valid votes and 374 rejected ballots.
Scotland recorded 1,661,191 Remain votes against 1,018,322 Leave votes. Turnout was 67.2% from an electorate of 3,987,112, with 2,679,513 valid votes and 1,666 rejected ballots. In the South East, Leave led 2,567,965 to 2,391,718; turnout was 76.8% from an electorate of 6,465,404, with 4,959,683 valid votes and 3,427 rejected ballots.
In the South West, Leave led 1,669,711 to 1,503,019. Turnout was 76.7% from an electorate of 4,138,134, with 3,172,730 valid votes and 2,179 rejected ballots. Wales recorded 854,572 Leave votes and 772,347 Remain votes, turnout of 71.7%, an electorate of 2,270,272, 1,626,919 valid votes and 1,135 rejected ballots.
The West Midlands recorded 1,755,687 Leave votes and 1,207,175 Remain votes. Turnout was 72.0% from an electorate of 4,116,572, with 2,962,862 valid votes and 2,507 rejected ballots. Yorkshire and the Humber recorded 1,580,937 Leave votes and 1,158,298 Remain votes, turnout of 70.7%, an electorate of 3,877,780, 2,739,235 valid votes and 1,937 rejected ballots.
Scottish independence referendum campaign statistics
The Electoral Commission’s Scottish Independence Referendum report records 42 registered campaigners or individuals, split evenly between 21 supporting Yes and 21 supporting No. Scottish referendum campaign spending totaled £6,664,950, according to the Electoral Commission’s Scottish referendum spending page. Five campaigners spent more than £250,000, and those five high-spending campaigners spent £5,230,642 in total.
Scotland had 4,283,938 registered referendum voters, including 109,593 voters aged 16 and 17. There were 796,835 postal voters, equal to 18.6% of the electorate. The count recorded 3,429 rejected ballots. Scotland had 5,579 polling stations across 2,608 polling places, and polling stations were capped at a maximum of 800 electors each.
The Electoral Commission supplied 2.5 million voting guides in Scotland. The count recorded 3,623,344 votes, representing 84.6% turnout. No received 2,001,926 votes, equal to 55.25% of votes cast, while Yes received 1,617,989, equal to 44.65% of votes cast.
The two referendums therefore provide different campaign-statistics profiles. The EU referendum had 123 registered campaigners, reported spending of £32,642,158 and UK-wide turnout of 72.2%. Scotland’s independence referendum had 42 registered campaigners, reported spending of £6,664,950 and turnout of 84.6% among its registered referendum voters. The measurement dates and geographies differ, so these figures are best read as separate Electoral Commission records rather than as a single directly comparable series.