EXCL Boris Johnson targets female voters via Facebook ads in final days before election
2 min read
Boris Johnson has launched an ad blitz targeting female voters in the final days of the election campaign, PoliticsHome can reveal.
A series of adverts have gone up on the Prime Minister's own Facebook page as 12 December approaches.
On Monday morning, 31 adverts paid for by the Conservatives were published with the slogan “I will get Brexit done.”
Public data available on the ads showed that, on average, two-thirds of voters targeted by the adverts were women.
This approach is in stark contrast to ads run during Boris Johnson’s campaign to become Conservative leader, which overwhelmingly targeted men.
Mr Johnson spent £6,092 on around 30 ad campaigns to help secure the Tory leadership, with an average of 78% of those targeted being male.
Monday’s digital campaign - launched less than 72 hours before polls open - follow increased scrutiny of the PM for past “sexist” comments.
In a 1995 Spectator article recently highlighted by Labour, the PM wrote that single mothers were raising a generation of "ill-raised, ignorant, aggressive and illegitimate children".
He was also forced to apologise for a Telegraph article in which women wearing the burqa were compared to "letterboxes" and "bank robbers".
The Tory leader has also faced criticism for calling David Cameron a “girly swot”, while describing one opponent as a “big girls blouse”.
A recent YouGov poll also found that just 38% of women have a favourable view of him.
In all, the Conservatives have £42,301 on adverts on Mr Johnson’s Facebook page.
The party has been approached for comment.
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