The Conservative Party has stopped running paid ads for the upcoming general election across all Meta-owned sites including Facebook and Instagram, according to research from Who Targets Me.
Until this week, the party had been investing heavily in its online campaigning, despite trailing behind Labour’s significant investment. Today, there are no active ads for the party across Facebook, Instagram, Google or YouTube.
The ads have been pulled following a heated leaders debate which took place on Tuesday 4 June, and saw the pair clash over claims Labour tax rises would amount to a £2,000 per year increase – a claim which has since come under fire from the Office for Statistics Regulation.
Over the last few days Labour has run a series of ads showing highlights from the debate, while the Conservative ad funnel went surprisingly quiet for a party just four weeks out from a general election.
All previously existing paid-for online adverts from the Conservatives have been switched off, including attack ads against Labour policies and others with titles including ‘The truth about Keir’s views on the monarchy’, referring to previous claims about the Labour leader.
Most notably, an ad which referred to the alleged £2,000 tax hike has also been pulled. According to Who Targets Me, it had been shown up to 10 million times at a cost of almost £40,000.
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The party has continued to post on its own Facebook page however, with recent posts continuing to refer to the contentious £2,000 figure.
The party’s YouTube channel has also gone quiet, with the last video posted being its party broadcast three days ago.
The ad moratorium also comes as Rishi Sunak is under fire for leaving D-Day commemorations in France early, for which he has been forced to apologise.
Meanwhile, the Labour Party is running a host of paid ads which lash out at the Conservative Party’s national service policy, sharing moments from the night of the debate, and highlighting the views of swinging voters.
Previously, both parties have leveraged TikTok in an attempt to tap into the younger generation of voters, with an array of memes including one featuring Gemma Collins from Labour, and Rishi Sunak himself taking to the Conservative’s channel.
