Brexit Party taken to court over unpaid expenses bill

People wait for Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage to speak at an event in Barnsley while on the general election campaign trail. Photograph: Danny Lawson/PA. - Credit: PA Wire/PA Images

A businessman is taking court action against the Brexit Party after failure to pay for election billboards.

Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage during the general election campaign. Photograph: Dominic Lipinski/PA. – Credit: PA Wire/PA Images

Victor Shields, director of Giant Advertising, has provided political billboards for the last 12 years to all major political parties.

But he has had to take the Brexit Party to court after still being owed £22,000 more than three months after the election.

Giant’s work carried out digital advertising for Nigel Farage’s firm in the run up to polling day, and has only received half of the money he is owed.

He had grown frustrated after a majority of employees by the Brexit Party were dismissed, making communication extremely difficult.

He told The Herald: ‘After December 12, almost 80% of the Brexit Party’s people were dismissed and they no longer had access to email – and our only point of contact was Paul Oakden.

‘He could not care one bit about his obligations to pay people and he has personally done nothing bar anger, annoy and distress me.’

He continued: ‘I am a small business and this kind of behaviour you don’t expect from political parties.

‘Everybody pays on the nose because it’s so last-minute. You have to have a bit of trust involved but clearly that hasn’t happened here.’

Shields feared that his Scottish nationality could have contributed to the reasons he was not paid.

He said: ‘I have supplied media to all the major political parties across the UK and in 12 years, this is the first time we have had an organisation as such do this with a debt.

‘This is the UK and it’s now 2020.

‘Also, the fact I am Scottish-based could have a bearing on their total disregard to their obligations.’


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A spokesperson for the Brexit Party said: ‘The claims against the party are totally unfounded.’