Political ads could be heading to UK TV screens due to legal loophole

But they could soon yearn for the halcyon days of shampoo or insurance commercials after being presented with the faces of Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer.

ITV is considering taking paid ads from political parties for the first time during the upcoming general election thanks to a loophole in broadcasting law.

With audiences increasingly switching off traditional broadcast channels, the UK’s big political parties are preparing to take advantage of the loophole and pay millions of pounds to insert themselves into living rooms.

Tom Edmonds, who ran digital advertising campaigns for the Conservatives in the 2010s, said politicians were desperate to pay to access screens.

The media regulator Ofcom confirmed there was no legal ban on political campaigns buying adverts on video streaming services, meaning it is up to the individual streamers and broadcasters to choose their own policies.

At the time, the then Conservative culture secretary, Maria Miller, celebrated the court’s decision, saying it “ensures the political views broadcast into our homes are not determined by those with the deepest pockets”.