A proposed amendment to the representation of the people bill aims to regulate misleading factual claims in UK electoral advertising. Unlike commercial advertising, there are currently no rules governing the accuracy of factual claims made in political adverts.
Reform Political Advertising highlights this as a serious threat to electoral integrity, alongside foreign interference. The organisation's research into May's local elections found misleading advertising in some close contests, with 41.4% of wards in England decided by margins of less than 5%.
Regulating factual claims in electoral advertising was a key recommendation from the House of Lords select committee on democracy and digital technologies in 2020. The current bill offers an opportunity to implement this, with an amendment covering the same scope having attracted 37 MPs as sponsors in the Commons.