Petition · past parliament

Make UK political advertising subject to the Advertising Code.

Closed 2,627 signatures

What the petition asks

Political campaigning is a form of advertising, and like all other forms of advertising, it should be regulated. The recent referendum campaign highlights the urgent need for political advertising to become subject to the Advertising Code in the same way as other areas of advertising and marketing.
The Advertising Standards Authority ensures all adverts in the UK are "legal, decent, honest and truthful", and has the power to ban false advertising. However, their powers do not currently extend to political campaigning, meaning we have more protection when buying a toaster than voting in a referendum.

An extension of the ASA's powers would strengthen our democratic system and protect free speech. Let's remove lies from our political discourse, and kick "post-truth politics" out of Britain.

Timeline

5 Jul 2016 Petition opened for signatures
5 Jan 2017 Closed to new signatures

Key facts

Signatures 2,627
Status Closed
Opened 5 Jul 2016
Closed 5 Jan 2017

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Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.