The government's annual advertising spend leapt by 70% to £192.4m before June's general election. It was the UK's second-biggest advertising spender in the financial year to March, behind Unilever, which spent £197.9m.
In the first quarter of 2001, the government spent £69.3m on advertising, making it the biggest advertiser. Unilever was in second place, with a spend of £34.3m during the quarter.
In the year running up to the previous election in 1997, the Conservative government spent £69.3m. Under the Labour Party, the government's budget increased from £59m in the first year to £113.4m in the third year, before reaching last year's record level of £192.4m.
Some of the more controversial campaigns included a television campaign to inform the public of the minimum income guarantee for pensioners -- which the Tories say cost £150 for each person receiving the benefit -- and a campaign publicising holiday rights for workers, which cost £2.5m.
The Tories have accused the government of undertaking a "pre-election splurge" and claim that the Labour Party should have paid for the campaigns, rather than taxpayers.
Andrew Lansley, the Tory spokesman on Cabinet Office issues, has written to the auditor general Sir John Bourn, asking for an inquiry into the campaigns, and David Willetts, the Tory spokesman on work and pensions, will call for the Cabinet Office to introduce more guidelines.
A Cabinet Office spokesman said that advertising is only used for important public information campaigns and strict rules are in place to ensure they are not party political.
The latest high-profile government ad campaign is encouraging people to fill in their tax forms. It features the Mrs Doyle character, played by Pauline McLynn, from the Father Ted comedy series whose catch phrase "go on" is used extensively during the ad.
The £5m campaign was created by M&C Saatchi.