Referendum booklet increased yes vote, says advertising expert

An advertising expert has told the High Court he believes the Government’s information campaign in the children’s referendum exerted a “significant emotional influence” on voter behaviour, encouraging people to think children were at risk and they should vote yes.

Robert Heath said the use on the government booklet’s cover of a silhouette image of three children, slogans such as “protecting children” and the title “children’s referendum” would have had an emotional impact on some recipients of the booklet encouraging a yes vote.

The use of the phrase “children’s referendum”, rather than “children referendum” as used by the Referendum Commission, implied the referendum was being run by children on their own behalf, he said.