Reform UK spending on Facebook ads surged before May elections

Reform UK increased the funding and sophistication of its political Facebook ads during the final weeks of campaigning for the May elections. In several days before its breakthrough performance, Reform spent more than any other party on Facebook. Spending through its main Facebook pages almost matched Labour’s total, with Labour narrowly outspending Reform due to a late increase. Reform spent 252,000 in the final two weeks via its main pages, concentrated in two accounts: the main party page and Farage’s page. Labour spent 276,000 across its main page and regional party pages. Conservatives spent 76,000, narrowly ahead of the SNP at 75,000 and the Greens at 74,000. Reform also used more advanced targeting and local ads, including messages warning against voting for Conservatives and positioning Reform as the alternative to Labour or as a solution to issues in Scotland.

"Reform spent 252,000 in the final two weeks of the campaign on its main Facebook pages. That spending was highly centralised through just two pages — its main party page and that of Farage. Labour spent 276,000 on the platform via its main Facebook pages, but that spending was more spread out between its main page and those of its Welsh, Scottish and regional parties. The analysis counted spending among a party's main accounts, defined as the main pages of its party, main regional parties and political leaders."

"There were several days in the fortnight before the party's breakthrough electoral performance when Reform spent more than any other party on the influential platform. Reform's spending through its main Facebook pages almost matched that of Labour. Only a late spurt of spending by Labour meant it narrowly outspent its rightwing rival, according to analysis by the Who Targets Me campaign group."

"The data raises questions for Conservatives, as the party was a distant third, spending 76,000 with Meta, the owner of Facebook, in the final two weeks before the election. It was only narrowly ahead of the Scottish National party, which spent 75,000, and the Greens, who spent 74,000 over the period. A Reform Facebook ad targeting the SNP."

"There was also an increased sophistication to Reform's campaign, both in its targeting of ads and in the quality of the ads themselves. The party adopted local ads, popularised by the Liberal Democrats, which claimed to show local polling with Reform as the main challenger to the incumbent party, often Labour. Don't waste your vote on the Conservatives, one reads. Only Reform UK can stop Labour. In Scotland, it targeted the SNP by describing them as a calamity for Scotland and pitching Reform as a vote"

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