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The ad industry and the Government have clashed over who should

regulate party political ads after ministers rejected proposals by the

Committee of Advertising Practice.

In a surprise move, the home secretary, Jack Straw, has scuppered plans

for a new code of conduct on press and poster ads to be policed by the

Electoral Commission, which will control election campaign spending by

the parties.

Political campaigns will no longer be regulated by the Advertising

Standards Authority from January 2000.

Concern has grown over the present ’halfway house’ system, under which

parties are subject to the industry’s code of practice but do not have

to prove their claims like other advertisers.

The dispute leaves the regulation of political campaigns clouded in

uncertainty, with the political parties seeking another body to take

over from the ASA.

The Home Office said it saw ’dangers’ in the CAP’s plan. It warned that

the commission’s impartiality would be at risk, calling into doubt its

ability to carry out its other work.

’Adjudicating over complaints about political advertisements would

inevitably draw the Electoral Commission into the party political arena

in a way that could compromise its reputation for even-handedness and

independence,’ the Home Office said. ’The risk of this happening is

particularly acute during the hothouse atmosphere of a general election

campaign.’

The ruling has puzzled leading industry figures, who believe the

commission is bound to become embroiled in party disputes over the

pounds 20 million general election spending limit that it will

police.

Andrew Brown, director-general of the Advertising Association, said: ’I

am disappointed about the decision. If the commission is to look at good

conduct in election, I don’t see why advertising should not be part of

that. But it is not for us to say who should administer the code.’