Alex Tait Urges UK to Regulate Electoral Ads as 41.4% of Wards Were Won by Under 5%
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Oct 19
Alex Tait Urges UK to Regulate Electoral Ads as 41.4% of Wards Were Won by Under 5%
1 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Oct 19
Summary
Alex Tait called for Parliament to amend the representation of the people bill to regulate factual claims in electoral advertising, arguing UK parties can spread disinformation with no equivalent checks to those applied to commercial ads.
41.4% of wards in England’s May local elections were won by margins below 5%, Tait said, with nine decided by a single vote and misleading campaign ads found in some of the closest contests.
Brexit’s 51.9%-48.1% result shows how small shifts can be decisive, he argued, making domestic political disinformation a serious electoral-integrity risk alongside foreign interference.
A 2020 House of Lords committee backed regulation of electoral ad claims, and a Commons amendment on the issue has already drawn 37 MP sponsors while peers prepare to press it in the Lords.