Ministers given £930m to spend on advertising space to tout policies

Budget almost doubles amid reports that prime minister wants to promote her 150bn energy-bill freeze

Ministers have budgeted more than 930m on buying advertising space in an effort to sell government policies in the lead-up to the next election, new analysis has revealed.

The amount is almost double the normal advertising budget for government over the previous four years, although a significant amount more was spent on Covid-related advertising, according to data compiled by Labour.