Michael Gove denies knowledge of £625k Vote Leave donation amid Brexit referendum 'cheating' claims

The Environment Secretary was one of the leading figures in the Brexit campaign

Michael Gove has denied any knowledge of a £625,000 donation made by the Brexit campaign ahead of the EU referendum, which is alleged to have breached strict spending rules.

The Environment Secretary, who helped to coordinate pro-Brexit groups during the campaign, said he was unaware of the sizeable donation made by Vote Leave to the youth Brexit group BeLeave in the lead up the 2016 vote.

Whistleblowers at the heart of the Facebook data row have alleged that the donation was made to get around electoral spending limits - a claim that Vote Leave strongly denies.

Christopher Wylie, former director of research at scandal-hit Cambridge Analytica, told MPs on Tuesday that the referendum result could have been different without "cheating" from Vote Leave.

It comes after another whistleblower, Shahmir Sanni, alleged that Vote Leave used its links with BeLeave to get around the Electoral Commission's £7m referendum campaign spending limit.

Asked about the claims, Mr Gove told Sky News: "No, I wasn't involved in the day-to-day running of the campaign, I was out there making the case for leaving the European Union rather than managing the hidden wiring of the campaign.

"But I think this case has been investigated twice by the Electoral Commission since it occurred and I think on both those occasions the Electoral Commission said that it's quite right that the one campaign can donate to another organisation, and indeed my understanding is that the Remain campaign did pretty much the same thing."

Pressed on why he did not know, as co-convener of the campaign committee, Mr Gove said he was only made aware after the referendum campaign concluded.

Labour and the Lib Dems have called for the police to investigate the claims by Mr Sanni, a former BeLeave volunteer, and 50-page dossier has been handed to the election watchdog, alongside a legal opinion that the campaign may have broken electoral law.

However senior Brexiteers have dismissed the claims. Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said the allegations were "utterly ludicrous" and insisted the referendum had been won "fair and square - and legally".

An Electoral Commission spokesperson said: “The commission has a number of investigations open in relation to campaigners at the EU referendum; it does not comment on live investigations.”