Fashion student given over £600K to campaign for Vote Leave
A fashion student was given over £600,000 by Vote Leave, it has emerged.
Darren Grimes, a 23-year-old student, was given £625,000 by the official leave campaign during the referendum to target young voters.
According to records produced by the Electoral Commission, Mr Grimes was given the money days before the historic vote on June 23 – which saw the UK vote to leave the European Union.
A Vote Leave source said the money was given to the University of Brighton student in order to use all of the £7million it was allowed to. It made him one of the best funded campaigners on either side of the debate.
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The Times reported that Mr Grimes spent the money on his BeLeave social media campaign – which tried to convince younger voters that Britain would do better outside the European bloc.
The 23-year-old also claimed to have spent part of the money on a political consultancy called AggregateIQ.
The self declared ‘libertarian’ told the BBC in April that young people were not being given enough of a say in the referendum.
Since the vote in June, police forces around the country have seen the number of hate crimes against immigrants and minorities increase. This included London, where a group took to the streets, chanting: “First we get the Poles out, then the gays.”