Mark Gettleson never intended to be “the third whistleblower”. In an assessment of evidence submitted to the Electoral Commission last month by two leading QCs and a barrister, he is known only as “J”.

But a set of events has led him to come out in the open and reveal himself – though he is not doing any press or interviews – including the publication on Friday of a legal opinion by the digital, culture, media and sport select committee. That report argues that the commission should investigate whether offences were committed with the “knowledge, assistance and agreement” of key figures in the Vote Leave campaign, including Stephen Parkinson and Cleo Watson, who both now work for the prime minister.

It also makes it clear to those involved that “J” is Gettleson, a 33-year-old communications specialist and former Liberal Democrat councillor. His submission and testimony – seen by the Guardian – offers compelling new evidence. But, according to friends and colleagues, it’s not been easy.

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Norman Lamb, the Lib Dem MP for North Norfolk said: “I’ve known Mark for many years. He’s a deeply principled man driven by decent values and I know that this has troubled him for a long time. He believes that certain evidence needs to be out in the public domain and I respect him for that but this has been a very difficult period for him and I know that it’s come at a very high personal cost.”

Gettleson is a long-standing friend of Christopher Wylie, the Cambridge Analytica whistleblower. He was persuaded by Wylie to go and work for the firm in 2014. A self-described “liberal do-gooder” who volunteers with Grenfell relief projects and previously worked for the Howard League for Penal Reform, he says now that he “should have just said ‘no’ to Chris”.

But he didn’t. He went and conducted research and ran focus groups for Cambridge Analytica in the US, leaving in late 2014 when he became increasingly uncomfortable about the work it was doing. Wylie then asked him to join him in a new business – “Mark’s weak spot is saying ‘yes’ to Chris,” says a friend – which was wound up without Gettleson ever having done any work for it. He was, he says, seeking more meaningful work when Parkinson, a mutual friend of his and Wylie’s and now political secretary to Theresa May, suggested he join the Vote Leave team in January 2016.

Gettleson believed in a vision of a “progressive” future for Britain outside the European Union (though friends say he ended up voting for remain), and joined as an “outreach assistant” reporting to Watson, also now at No 10, who in turn, was overseen by Parkinson. .

Gettleson’s natural inclination was to keep his mouth shut. In March last year, I identified him as a link between Cambridge Analytica and Vote Leave and at that time, he wouldn’t talk to me. His one previous experience of the press was bruising. In 2015, he was accused of campaign irregularities himself, when working on Lamb’s Lib Dem leadership bid and, though he was later fully exonerated, it’s given him a wariness of being in the public eye and an understanding of the seriousness of the charges.

It was Shahmir Sanni who helped convince him that he needed to go to the authorities. “He went to Mark and told him that that he was troubled by what he’d learned,” a friend says. “Mark wrestled with his conscience for a long time and it was partly to support Shahmir that decided he had to do it.”

It’s been a long and difficult process for Gettleson – one I’ve witnessed first-hand. Wylie is relishing the chance to tell his story in public. But this was never Gettleson’s desire. He decided that he had a public duty to submit evidence to the Electoral Commission, but it’s only because Dominic Cummings has called Wylie and Sanni “liars and charlatans” and launched legal proceedings against the lawyers involved that the full legal opinion, which identifies him, is being made public.

He’s prepared for the public mauling that he feels sure is coming. Vote Leave turned on Shahmir Sanni when he came forward last month, outing him as gay against his wishes and at risk to his family in Pakistan where homosexuality is neither tolerated nor legal.

Most troubling to him was Parkinson’s statement about Sanni. Tamsin Allen, solicitor to all three whistleblowers, said that this was the final straw for Gettleson, who has been friends with Parkinson since they were at Cambridge together. “Mark believes the outing of Shahmir was completely unjustifiable,” she said. “If Vote Leave believed no wrongdoing had been done, they should have challenged the evidence not attacked the person. It wasn’t justifiable on any level.”

Neither Parkinson nor Watson responded to the latest allegations, but Watson has said previously: “I absolutely deny the charges against me.”

In Parkinson’s previous statement, he said: “I had no responsibility for digital campaigning or donations during the referendum, and am confident that Vote Leave acted entirely within the law.”



Vote Leave has repeatedly denied coordination between the campaigns.

