Labour calls for reform of political advertising

Neil Duncan-Jordan, Labour’s candidate for Poole has today written to the other candidates standing to ask them if they will sign up to a new code to reform political advertising.

Politicians do not enjoy high levels of trust from voters. Electoral Commission research of 2019 campaigning found that ‘voters were concerned about the use of misleading campaign techniques by campaigners from across the political spectrum.’

Mr Duncan-Jordan said: “There is no regulation of factual claims in electoral material, when 9 out of 10 voters think that that should be a legal requirement. If we are going to raise the standard of our politics, we need to have more honesty and that includes in the claims we make.”

Mr Duncan-Jordan has already signed the advertising code developed by the campaign group Reform Political Advertising (RPA). The code says candidates will:

• Make every reasonable effort not to mislead voters;
• Ensure that factual claims are accurate according to recognised sources;
• Hold relevant and reliable evidence for factual claims, which will either be sourced in the advertising or made available if requested;
• Acknowledge it if they make a mistake and issue a public correction as quickly as possible;
• Inform audiences when they use generative AI.