The Digital Doorstep

United Ballots Research · July 2026 · 6 minutes analysis
Expenditure by political parties on platforms such as Facebook/Meta and Google has escalated from 25% of total advertising budgets in 2015 to exceeding 50% in 2024. This trend persists despite the fact that the most valuable audience is increasingly migrating to areas where spending data is insufficiently comprehensive.

In 2024, the allocation of advertising expenditure by UK political parties directed towards Facebook/Meta and Google was documented by the House of Commons Library. This report provides a detailed analysis of the financial distribution across these major digital platforms. Recent analysis reveals a definitive metric that illustrates the extent to which British political campaigning has transitioned to online platforms. This metric is derived from the legally required financial disclosures submitted by the political parties, rather than from survey data.
There exists a definitive and publicly accessible figure that quantifies the extent to which British political campaigning has transitioned to online platforms. This figure is derived not from surveys or estimates, but from the legally required financial disclosures submitted by the political parties themselves. In the year 2015, expenditures directed towards Facebook/Meta and Google constituted 25% of the overall advertising budget allocated by political parties during the general election in the United Kingdom. As of 2017, the figure stood at 42%. As of 2019, the percentage stands at 52%. By 2024, analysis conducted by the House of Commons Library, utilizing Electoral Commission data released in July 2025, indicated that the expenditure on advertising by British political parties on two technology platforms had reached 54%. This marked a significant milestone, as it represented the first instance on record where the collective spending on these platforms surpassed the total investment in all traditional advertising channels combined. Expenditure has increased and shifted.
The magnitude of total expenditure has increased concurrently with the transformation in its allocation. Total reported party spending at the 2024 general election reached £69.3 million, an increase from £50.1 million in 2019 (£62.1 million when adjusted for inflation). This rise is partially attributable to the statutory spending limits, which were elevated by 80% in 2023 to address inflation for the first time since 2000. Advertising and unsolicited materials, including leaflets and their distribution, continue to represent approximately two-thirds of total party expenditures. However, within the advertising sector, there has been a significant shift towards online platforms.
Two platforms are notably and meaningfully excluded from that trend. In the United Kingdom, both X (formerly Twitter) and TikTok have established policies that prohibit paid political advertising. This regulatory framework is evidenced by the minimal financial activity in this domain, with total recorded expenditure on X advertising across all general elections from 2015 to 2024 amounting to a mere £68,000. Additionally, the recorded advertising spend on TikTok during the entire 2024 general election was only £36. It is important to note that the presence of parties and candidates on these platforms is characterized by organic content rather than paid promotion. This distinction complicates the tracking of spending-return data, as highlighted by the Electoral Commission. Furthermore, this organic presence may underrepresent the actual extent of digital campaigning conducted through "digital intermediaries." These specialist firms manage online campaigns for clients, yet their activities may not be readily identifiable in keyword searches of spending returns.

The current landscape reveals the specific platforms and environments where younger demographics are predominantly engaged. An analysis of user behavior indicates a shift towards digital spaces that prioritize interactive and visually-driven content. Understanding these trends is crucial for effectively reaching and influencing this target group.
The differentiation between paid advertising and organic reach holds significant importance when considering the audience aspect of the equation. According to the findings of Ofcom’s News Consumption in the UK 2025 survey, a significant majority, specifically eight out of ten individuals aged 16 to 24, rely on online sources for their news consumption. Furthermore, three-quarters of this demographic utilize social media platforms for news, indicating a pronounced preference that surpasses that of older age groups, where traditional media such as television and print continue to hold a more substantial presence. Ofcom's recent research involving individuals aged 12 to 15 indicates that TikTok has emerged as the predominant news source for this demographic, surpassing platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram. However, the findings also reveal that these younger teenagers consider family to be their most reliable source of news, rather than any social media platform. Furthermore, it is noteworthy that only approximately 30% of TikTok users within this age group express a level of trust in the news content they encounter on the platform.

When juxtaposing the spending data with the audience data, a noticeable asymmetry emerges that may evoke a sense of discomfort. The platforms that are currently capturing the most significant and rapidly expanding share of young people's attention for news, with TikTok being the most prominent, are also the platforms where the expenditure on political advertising in the UK remains structurally minimal, as paid political advertising is prohibited on these channels. Political parties targeting younger voters through paid media predominantly focus on Meta and Google, platforms characterized by a user base that is relatively older compared to TikTok. In contrast, the organic, unpaid content that successfully engages younger audiences on TikTok presents challenges in regulation and attribution to specific campaigns. Furthermore, according to Ofcom's findings, this content is only trusted by a minority of the audience that engages with it.
The entities influencing this transition exhibited a disparity in scale and capacity. Labour has utilized 89% of its adjusted spending limit for 2024, amounting to approximately £30.1 million. This marks the first instance in nearly twenty years where it has emerged as the party with the highest expenditure during a general election. The Conservative Party utilized precisely 70% of their allocated expenditure limit, amounting to approximately £23.8 million. Both figures significantly surpass the total expenditures of all other parties participating in the 2024 election. This underscores the reality that advertising for the UK general election, whether digital or traditional, continues to be predominantly a two-party affair in financial terms, despite an election outcome that has yielded the most fragmented vote share in decades. It is important to highlight that the online share of spending did not continue to accelerate uniformly. The year 2024 represented the first general election since 2015 in which this share increased by less than ten percentage points compared to the previous election, with a rise of only two points, contrasting sharply with the double-digit increases observed between 2015 and 2019. Determining whether this represents a true plateau or merely a temporary pause will require analysis following the next general election.

The implications of the data are significant and warrant careful analysis. Understanding the underlying trends and patterns is crucial for informed decision-making and strategic planning. It is essential to interpret the data within the context of broader objectives and potential outcomes. The demographic most accessible via unregulated organic content presents significant challenges in terms of reliable measurement and exhibits a notable skepticism towards the information encountered in this medium. Campaigns that consider a TikTok video and a Facebook advertisement as equivalent tools overlook significant distinctions in regulatory visibility, measurability, and audience trust.

There is no straightforward policy or campaign strategy that emerges from this analysis. Furthermore, there is a divergence of opinion among informed individuals regarding the adequacy of existing spending-disclosure and platform-advertising regulations in achieving an appropriate equilibrium between transparency and the preservation of free political expression in the online environment. The data establishes a clear trajectory: political communication in Britain has transitioned to online platforms at a pace that outstrips the development of the regulatory and disclosure frameworks intended to monitor it. Furthermore, the audience segment that is most accessible through unregulated organic content is, by a significant margin, the same segment identified by researchers and the Electoral Commission as the most challenging to quantify with any degree of certainty.