All change? What to expect from the new Government

Dissecting the election outcome 

In the recent UK general election, a record 335 MPs were elected for the first time – with a further 15 becoming MPs again after a gap in service – quite a change to a Parliamentary population of 651 MPs! 

The sheer number of new MPs means that the average Member of Parliament knows far less about our industry than their predecessor – so we have plenty of work to do in informing them about digital advertising and its value to UK businesses, consumers and the economy as a whole. 

This is a big task but also an opportunity – we know that our industry has a very strong story to tell and we have already started telling it. 

During the election, we made contact with a large number of candidates we believed would have an interest in policy areas relevant to digital advertising - such as journalism, economic growth and small business. The vast majority of these have been elected. We also renewed our contact with many members of the House of Lords who have shown an interest in relevant issues in the past. 

We are not starting from square one when it comes to the new Ministers responsible for digital advertising policy either. We’ve had very positive discussions with some of these Ministers when they were in shadow Ministerial roles and have written to all of them about digital advertising in the past. We also have existing relationships with MPs who hold other Ministerial roles.  

More widely, both before and after the election, we’ve made representations to the Labour Party and other organisations who are influential in guiding its policy about the need to work with industry and to develop policy in a proportionate and evidence-based way.  
 

Labour’s tech policy priorities 

Technology was not a major focus in the Labour Party manifesto but it will be a key route to delivering Labour’s five key policy ‘missions’, including kickstarting economic growth​. The IAB team is confident that the data and insights we have produced, including from our The Digital Dividend and Powering Up studies and our nationwide roadshow of roundtables, gives us plenty of evidence to present to new MPs and Ministers about how our digital advertising is already helping to deliver this growth and wider benefits to consumers. 

The technology policy commitments that Labour has made so far seek to strike a balance between increasing safety in relation to new technologies and maximising innovation and the societal benefits of technology​.  The new Government plans to build on and add to the Online Safety Act, develop a new Fraud Strategy that will include online fraud, and  regulate the development of AI models.   

One piece of legislation that has already been announced is the Digital Information and Smart Data Bill (DSID). We expect there to be some similarities with the Data Protection and Digital Information Bill which did not make it through the last Parliament, but given Labour’s opposition to elements of that Bill, it won’t be a carbon copy. We don’t yet have full details about what will be in the Bill, or when it is likely to be introduced, but it’s not likely to be imminent. . 
 

Digital advertising policy 

In the King’s Speech, Labour recommitted to implementing the ban on online ads for Less Healthy Food and Drink (LHFD) products . We have already written to Ministers asking that they introduce the necessary secondary legislation urgently, and they have confirmed that this is being prioritised.  

It is a mixture of both change and continuity in other areas – the review of digital advertising, formerly known as the Online Advertising Programme, is likely to remain in some form, but its future will depend on the direction decided by new Ministers. In the meantime, the Online Advertising Taskforce is continuing its work.  
 

IAB UK’s proactive public affairs engagement 

As our work gets underway with the new Parliament, we are already well-prepared and in a strong place.  

Our short-term public affairs focus is on informing and educating the Government, Parliamentarians and policy influencers about the value and strengths of the digital advertising industry and building a strong cohort of Parliamentary pledge supporters to stand us in good stead for future engagement on policy issues. We are developing targeted briefings relevant to new MPs, Ministers and their priorities, and will soon be launching regular email updates for MPs and Peers.  

While it is a massively changed political scene, the digital advertising industry - even more than most - has proved itself capable of adapting to change. We are confident of doing so once again as we head into the new Parliament.