Political ads likely to remain unregulated

Political advertising could remain unregulated in the UK, as the advertising industry has failed to reach a consensus on whether a self-regulatory code should be in place to monitor non-broadcast media.

The Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) has failed to reach a unanimous decision on the issue and has decided not to submit a response to the Electoral Commission’s consultation paper on the subject. The last date for submissions on the paper, which was sent out in October last year, was on January 9.

IPA legal director Marina Palomba says: “Individuals within the IPA, and also its members, have differing views on political advertising. It is very different to commercial advertising. I personally agree with the view that the Electoral Commission, which was set up to encourage voters to participate in the democratic process, should regulate non-broadcast party political advertising itself.”

Palomba is also calling for the Electoral Commission to make people aware that the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) does not regulate political ads.

Since October 1999, political advertising has been exempt from any code of advertising administered by the ASA. The last time the ASA upheld complaints against a political campaign was in 1996, when it ruled against a Conservative Party poster campaign created by M&C Saatchi, depicting Tony Blair with “demon eyes”.

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