Political parties book space for May election

The next general election is likely to take place in May, as both the Labour Party and the Conservative Party have booked outdoor advertising space until the end of April.

But the Liberal Democrats are snubbing billboard posters, claiming the medium does not have a big impact upon election results.

According to outdoor buying specialist Concord, which has been monitoring the bookings, both Labour and the Conservatives have booked large-format outdoor campaigns until the end of April, equivalent to those of a car launch. This means ads will be carried on 1,500 to 2,500 billboards.

Concord also claims that bookings indicate that outdoor advertising will play a smaller part in the election campaign than it did in the 1997 general election.

Concord managing director Nigel Mansell says: “In the last election, we were seeing bookings of 5,000 sites from both parties.”

Mansell adds that political parties would find it difficult to increase the size of the outdoor campaigns, as availability in April was “tight”.

The Liberal Democrats have not booked any poster sites. A spokesman for the Lib Dems says the party does not have the resources and adds: “Our research shows that billboard posters do not have a marked effect on results.”

Labour has bought a medium-weight, 48-sheet campaign from January to the beginning of April. It has also booked a heavyweight campaign for the first two weeks of April, before returning to a medium-weight booking until the end of April.

The Conservatives have booked the second two weeks of February and March for a medium-weight, 48-sheet campaign. The party has then booked a 96-sheet campaign for the second two weeks in April.