The Conservative Party has removed a contentious attack ad targeting London Mayor Sadiq Khan from its social media platforms after just one day. The advert, which appeared on Meta’s Facebook and Instagram, claimed “Sadiq Khan wants to divide us” and urged voters to support the Conservative Party over Reform, warning, “don’t let Sadiq Khan win again.”

The ad, which was live for one day on June 19, garnered up to 35,000 views and cost the party approximately £499. The primary audience for the ad was individuals over 45 years old. Despite its brief run, the advert has sparked significant criticism.

Sadiq Khan, who secured a historic third term as mayor in May, defeating Conservative opponent Susan Hall by 276,000 votes, is not a candidate in the upcoming election on July 4.

The incident adds to a series of recent controversies surrounding the Conservative Party’s use of social media. Critics have accused the party of posting misleading content on the platform X, formerly known as Twitter, which they argue distorts historical and recent events.

One particularly contentious post featured an image of people queuing outside the former Northern Rock bank with the caption, “Face to face banking last time Labour were in charge.” This post suggested a direct link between Labour’s governance and the bank run that occurred. However, the post omitted critical context. On September 14, 2007, Northern Rock required a liquidity support facility from the Bank of England due to difficulties in raising funds from the money market. This intervention led to panic among depositors and resulted in a bank run, the UK’s first in 150 years. The Conservative post failed to mention the complex market conditions and government actions that influenced the event, presenting a misleading narrative.

Another scrutinised post included a clip of Labour’s Rachel Reeves during a BBC Breakfast interview. Due to a technical fault, Reeves could not hear the interviewer, leading to a brief silence. The Conservative post mockingly captioned the clip, “Cat got your tongue, Rachel?” but cut off just before the interviewer clarified the technical issue by saying, “Rachel Reeves, we may have just lost comms with you. Can you hear me?” This selective editing misled viewers about the situation.

As the Conservatives face mounting criticism for these tactics, the party’s approach to social media and its impact on public perception continues to be a hotly debated issue.