A party political broadcast (also known, in pre-election campaigning periods, as a party election broadcast) is a television or radio broadcast made by a political party.
In the United Kingdom the Communications Act 2003 prohibits (and previously the Broadcasting Act 1990 and earlier broadcasting practice prohibited) political advertising on television or radio; parties are instead allocated broadcast slots (usually around five minutes long) free of charge on broadcast channels using a formula set by Parliament. From 1953 to 2012, government and opposition commentaries were broadcast on the evening of the annual budget statement. Ministerial Broadcasts are occasionally made on urgent matters of a non-partisan nature.