BORIS Johnson’s Conservative Party has splurged £13,000 of Facebook adverts during his first week as Prime Minister – as they gear up for a possible election.
The social media blitz saw them buy 1,609 ads between July 21 and 27, nearly 1,000 more than any other political organisation.
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In total it cost the party £13,487, and 75 per cent of them were targeted in England.
On Saturday alone, the Conservatives official Facebook page spent a total of £4,003 on 612 ads, analysis from Storyful news agency revealed.
The ad blitz comes amid speculation that Boris may call a general election, though he has categorically ruled one out before the Brexit deadline of October 31.
They were mostly seen by people over the age of 35 in England, but two of them were targeted just at 18-24 year-old men, and were seen by 10,000 users.
Several of the ads placed in the last two days include a link to a “priorities” page on the Conservative party website which asks: “What’s the most important issue for you and your family right now?”, and requires you to enter your name, email and postcode before clicking to “submit and see more”.
Users are then asked to select their top three concerns from a list of issues that includes “terrorism,” “Brexit,” “crime” and “the NHS”.
The party could use the data in the coming months to target voters in the run up to a possible vote.
The page also asks users how they voted in the last election, and how they intend to vote in the next election – in a clear sign that the Tories are gathering information about voters on social media.
The ads also mocked Jeremy Corbyn, promised to deliver Brexit by Halloween, and urged supporters to join the Tory party.
The money spent in Boris’ first week as PM made up almost half of the party’s Facebook ad spend over the last 30 days, with an average of £4,750-per-week in the three previous weeks.
The Conservative Facebook spree comes ahead of his promises to splash out on “one of the biggest peacetime public information campaigns this country has ever seen” to make sure Britain is ready for a No Deal Brexit.
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During the leadership race, Boris himself kept his costs low on Facebook, spending £4,429 in a week that then-leadership rival Dominic Raab coughed up £39,762 to spread his campaign message – though was knocked out before the final round.
In the last week Labour’s official Facebook page paid £3,971 for just 64 Facebook ads, which railed against fox hunting and fracking, and called for a national living wage of £10-per-hour.
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