“Airbrushed for change”

 The original

Launched on 5 January 2010 by the Conservative Party, along with the slogan "Year for change".

The spoofs

Referring to the Tory party's major donor and awarded peer Lord Ashcroft, who has been revealed as having non-domicile tax status (which goes against donation regulations). 

The "death tax" poster 

On 9 February the Tories launched a new billboard campaign tackling Labour's "death tax", a compulsory £20,000 (€22,200) inheritance tax to fund elderly care.

It was snapped up by MyDavidcameron.com, with some of the responses comparing Cameron's approach with the former hard-fisted Tory leader and prime minister, Margaret Thatcher.

The "I've never voted Tory before" poster

Despite the attacks, just under a week later the Tories dared to launch a new campaign. The posters began dangerously: "I've never voted Tory before, but..." Here's one of them:

With yet more material to work with, MyDavidCameron.com took to the task of making a mockery out of it. One example in response to the poster above:

Referring to the fox hunting ban, which the Tories promise to repeal if they come into power.

The Tories fight back

Over a month after MyDavidCameron.com appeared, one of Cameron's supporters finally got round to a much needed counterattack. On 17 February, "mylabourposters'sblog" was launched. Unfortunately for eager Tory fans, the Labour party hasn't produced any billboards for this year's campaign, meaning that they had to rely on a new format. The subject was decided as "I've never voted Labour before...".    

Referring to Labour's approach to Greece's financial crisis, which conservatives deem too soft.

It was Labour that introduced 24-hour alcohol licenses; a move opposed by the Tories.

The Conservative Party promises strict anti-immigration laws.

The conservatives plan to demote European laws in the UK if they come to power.

“Voters do not take David Cameron seriously and lampoon him rather than discuss the issues raised in the posters”

Sonia Gable is a political activist from London. She's deputy editor of the anti-fascist magazine, Searchlight.

Many people have become disillusioned with politics, resulting in a growing number of people not voting [in the 2005 general election, the abstention rate was 38.6%]. Any new way of reaching out to people and getting a political message across can only be a good thing.

Websites and social media democratise politics because anyone can set up a site, blog or social media page. It is a means of spreading messages that are not controlled by the political parties themselves or by the major media outlets. Using modern means of communication does not replace traditional forms of campaigning - the parties still distribute leaflets and produce set-piece TV broadcasts - but it complements them.

In any case, in a democracy that embraces freedom of speech, it is inevitable and right that people will come up with ways of communicating their beliefs. If people do not like a website they don't have to look at it. Blogs and websites that are boring or unpopular will not be read; those that are interesting will be read and sometimes become influential.

In the end, though, the means a political party uses to communicate its message is only the wrapping; it is what the party says that matters. The Photoshopped David Cameron posters took off because the original Tory posters were trite. Voters do not take David Cameron seriously and lampoon him rather than discuss the issues raised in the posters."