Fact-Based Election Advertising with Alex Tait & Reform Political Advertising

For the past 25 years, claims on packets of crisps have been subject to more regulation than claims in election campaigns. But that could finally be about to change. Amendments to the Representation of the People Bill promise to apply some of the UK’s strenuous - and effective - advertising standards to election advertising. We are joined by Alex Tait, ad industry veteran and founder of the non-partisan campaign organisation Reform Political Advertising, one of the groups advocating these changes. Alex, together with Benedict Pringle, set up Reform Political Advertising to change the law. What does fact-based election advertising mean in practice? How can regulation that applies to commercial brand advertising improve political trust? How long does it take to turn an idea into a law? And can turkeys really vote for Christmas?

• Find out more about Reform Political Advertising: https://reformpoliticaladvertising.org/
• Ask Your MP to Prevent Lies in Political Advertising: https://reformpoliticaladvertising.org/take-action/email-your-mp/
• The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) advertising codes: https://www.asa.org.uk/codes-and-rulings/advertising-codes.html
• Marketing and Advertising - The Law: https://www.gov.uk/marketing-advertising-law

Also mentioned:

• Vote for Claire (by which we mean, vote to support 6 Ways to Save the Ad Funded Internet at SXSW 2027): https://bit.ly/4gqY9Rf
• In 2017, Claire interviewed a bunch of political strategists about campaign tactics, and boy did they tell her stuff. Full paper here: https://bit.ly/3TWgsWV

Related:

• Electoral Commission: Concerns about misinformation are rising, trust in political messaging is falling, and social media may be normalising abuse: https://bit.ly/46fIv6c

Can We Have Your Attention? is a podcast all about attention. Join hosts Claire Coady and James Wickham as they dive into how your attention is attracted, tracked, traded, and manipulated in the modern attention economy.

• Hosted by: Claire Coady & James Wickham
• Produced by: Phonogram https://www.phonogram.co.uk in conjunction with The Attention Practice https://www.theattentionpractice.com
• Find out more on our website https://canwehaveyourattention.com
• Got a story for us? Email us: hello@canwehaveyourattention.com

Like this episode? If you enjoyed this episode, please click subscribe. If you really liked it, please leave a rating - every rating helps this podcast reach more listeners like you.