How much did Boots spend attacking Labour?

The Lobbying Act is in full force and charities are apparently scaling back political comment in fear of being reprimanded by the Electoral Commission for being a non-party campaigner. But corporates are not so shy.

Take Boots’ attack on Ed Miliband and the resulting argument with the Labour party. With the Lobbying Act limiting spending on regulated PR activities, the Electoral Commission will be keen to note that Boots have spent an estimated £10,000 so far on essentially trying to encourage voters to vote against Labour:

The numbers are calculated based on the salary averages and estimated hours worked so far below:

	Annual salary	Hourly	Number of hours	Declared total	Source
Placing initial story
Chief Exec	3300000	1586.538462	4	6346.153846	http://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/oct/13/ftse-100-directors-pay-rises-share-awards
Director of corp comms	92000	44.23076923	12	530.7692308	http://www.payscale.com/research/UK/Job=Director_of_Communications/Salary (corporate jobs tend to pay much higher than average)
Corporate comms manager	55466	26.66634615	12	319.9961538	http://www.prweek.com/article/1088355/pr-census-paid
Public affairs manager	55000	26.44230769	8	211.5384615	http://www.prospects.ac.uk/public_affairs_consultant_salary.htm
Social media exec	25556	12.28653846	8	98.29230769	http://www.payscale.com/research/UK/Job=Social_Media_Manager/Salary
Issue on newswires				400
Follow up
Director of corp comms	92000	44.23076923	8	353.8461538	See above
Public affairs manager	55000	26.44230769	8	211.5384615	See above
Media manager	39091	18.79375	16	300.7	http://www.prweek.com/article/1088355/pr-census-paid
Social media exec	25556	12.28653846	16	196.5846154	See above
Radar, press cuttings and share of other expenses				500
TOTAL				9469.419231

Update

Boots have today slipped out a statement, claiming Pessina’s words have been taken out of context and there is no campaign by the company’s boss against Labour.

But what bit of “if they [Labour] acted as they speak, it would be a catastrophe” is not part of a campaign to encourage the public to vote for or against a candidate or a series of candidates? And it is on how “a reasonable person” could interpret these comments that the Electoral Commission will judge Boots and its status as a non-party campaigner.