[3] Vote Leave was founded in October 2015 by political strategists Matthew Elliott and Dominic Cummings as a cross-party campaign.

A number of Vote Leave principals, including Douglas Carswell, Michael Gove, Bernard Jenkin and Anne-Marie Trevelyan, were also members of the influential IPSA resourced European Research Group.

On 23 June and over the following days, both Vote Leave and its rival organisation, "Britain Stronger in Europe", were excoriated by sections of the media and academia for a campaign described by the Electoral Reform Society as "dire", which left the public seriously lacking proper information.

[6][7] The Vote Leave campaign was launched on 8 October 2015 with support from MPs including Labour MP Kate Hoey and UKIP MP Douglas Carswell, and supporters from the business world including CMC Markets founder Peter Cruddas, entrepreneur Luke Johnson and businessman John Mills, the Labour Party's biggest individual donor.

[55] Farage said that Vote Leave is headed by "apparatchiks" and "cretins", saying that the organisation "brief[s] every day that I'm toxic, I put voters off, and there is absolutely no statistical evidence to back that up at all.

It's crackers to think that you can win a referendum campaign with Boris [Johnson] and the likes of the cabinet", and became irritated when UKIP's sole MP Douglas Carswell joined Vote Leave.

[57] Michael Grade, Conservative life peer and former head of both the BBC and ITV, accused Vote Leave of using "unacceptable" "bullying tactics".

"[56] Labour MPs who want to exit the European Union on left-wing grounds have expressed their concern over being marginalised by Conservative and UKIP domination of the Vote Leave campaign.

"[58] The Green Party of England and Wales's representative in the House of Lords, Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb, previously supported Vote Leave[11] but withdrew her support for the organisation following its decision to appoint Lawson as its chairman, tweeting that she "Will vote to Leave EU but can't work with an organisation with so little judgement as to put Lawson at its head.

[63] During 2015, the group established a fake company[64] to gain entry to a speech being given by Prime Minister David Cameron at the Confederation of British Industry where they heckled him and held banners stating "CBI = voice of Brussels".

[69] George Eaton wrote, “[The] allegations bear the imprimatur of three senior barristers (Clare Montgomery QC, Helen Mountfield QC and Ben Silverstone of Matrix Chambers) who concluded that Vote Leave may have 'spent huge sums unlawfully', that there are 'grounds to suspect' that campaign director and former Michael Gove aide Dominic Cummings “conspired to break the law” and that Stephen Parkinson and fellow No.

[71] On 14 September 2018, the High Court of Justice found against the Electoral Commission, stating that its advice to Vote Leave and Darren Grimes had been incorrect, but confirming that the overspending had been illegal.

[citation needed] Noting the absence of post-victory celebrations, Nick Cohen wrote in a Guardian newspaper article that it reflected the fear of the two main leaders Johnson and Gove, both journalists, that they would be “found out.” He said that the Leave camp had no plan and provided a single simplistic answer to EU problems condemning the UK Statistics Authority as “stooges” and other experts as “corrupt liars in Brussels' pocket.” The campaign - a cross-party alliance of left and right-wing campaigners - had made promises on immigration and the National Health Service on which some politicians[which?]

[73] In August 2016, the Electoral Reform Society published a highly critical report and called for a review of how such future events are run.

Contrasting it unfavourably with the "well-informed grassroots" campaign for Scottish independence, Chief Executive Katie Ghose described it as "dire" with “glaring democratic deficiencies” which left voters bewildered.

Looking ahead, the society called for an official organisation to highlight misleading claims and for Ofcom to define the role broadcasters are expected to play.

[78] On 14 September 2018, the High Court ruled that the advice given by the Electoral Commission to Vote Leave as requested misinterpreted EU referendum spending laws.