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Atlantic Books has acquired the official account of Twitter sensation 'Led By Donkeys', who exposed the hypocrisies of Brexit by publishing political leaders' tweets on advertising billboards around the country.
Led By Donkeys will be published in hardback on 31st October 2019 - the day the UK is due to leave the EU. Atlantic m.d. and publisher Will Atkinson bought world rights from David Godwin at David Godwin Associates.
The four men behind ‘Led By Donkeys’ – Ben Stewart, James Sadri, Oliver Knowles and Will Rose – revealed themselves last week, having registered with the Electoral Commission in order to be transparent about their funding.
"Led By Donkeys will be a visual, official account of how four ordinary people – with full-time jobs and young families – managed to expose the government’s hypocrisies in full-colour glory," said Atlantic. "Armed with nothing more than ladders, roller brushes and a treasure trove of damning statements from our leaders, the Led By Donkeys team slapped up the politicians’ biggest lies on billboards around the country."
The group, who have more than 240,000 Twitter followers, said: "We’re as surprised as anybody at how big this thing has become. We started off as a guerrilla outfit, going out at night after we’d put our kids to bed to put up giant posters of the Brexiteers’ hypocrisy. Ten weeks later we were hiring a helicopter to film us deploying an 800-square-metre crowd banner in Parliament Square. It’s been one of the greatest adventures of our lives and we’ve had to do it all in gaps between our day jobs and young kids. It’s a good story and we’re excited to tell it."
Atkinson added: "Over 16 million people voted Remain and their interests and wishes have been ignored ever since. The referendum was fought by mendacious populists on the Leave side and a lacklustre Remain establishment. Led By Donkeys is an inspiring counter-thrust for the 16 million, and I am delighted that this book will capture their story and mission in words and pictures."