The publishers of The Sun registered a £97k donation to the Leave Campaign after publishing a pull-out poster supporting Brexit, Electoral Commission figures out today reveal.
The poster was published on 13 June, ahead of the EU referendum on 23 June.
Because it was described a poster for readers to display in windows The Sun had to register as an official supporter of the Leave campaign under Electoral Comission rules.
The figure, of £96,898, equates to the cost of a double-page spread of advertising in The Sun.
The poster featured a Union Jack and the words “BeLEAVE in Britain”.
The cost of the posters makes The Sun the eighth highest donor to the Leave campaign listed by the Electoral Comission.
A spokesperson for News Group Newspapers said: “As part of its campaign for Brexit the Sun ran a pullout poster. In accordance with Electoral Commission guidelines it registered as a participant and has declared the cost.”
The Sun was in the top four most pro-Leave campaign newspapers, according to Press Gazette’s Brexitometer, behind the Daily Express, Daily Mail and the Daily Telegraph.
A total of 15 out of 28 of The Sun’s front pages in the run up to the referendum carried stories which pro leaving the European Union.
Email pged@pressgazette.co.uk to point out mistakes, provide story tips or send in a letter for publication on our "Letters Page" blog
