Politicians in Bath and North East Somerset have spent more than £8,000 in the past year on Facebook adverts in a bid to secure your vote. 

The Conservatives have been the biggest spenders, forking out £4,304 on Annabel Tall's campaign to replace Liberal Democrat Wera Hobhouse as Bath's MP, including £685 in the past seven days. 

Anyone with a Facebook page can pay to "boost" a post so it appears in users' timelines – in theory, the more you pay, the more people it reaches.

The social media giant was forced to be more transparent after controversies surrounding ads during the EU referendum and the US presidential elections.

It launched a new tool in October 2018 that can be accessed by anyone and shows how much someone spent, their previous adverts and how many people were reached.

Anyone who wants to advertise is also required to provide proof of identity and the location of their company or political party.

There have been calls for Facebook to go further by following Twitter's lead and banning political ads. 

Since last October, the data shows Mrs Hobhouse has spent £1,497 on adverts for herself, while her local party has racked up a £1,505 bill for 11 ads, mostly in the run up to the local elections in May that saw it gain control of Bath and North East Somerset Council. 

It paid £260 towards Nick Coates' campaign in North East Somerset. 

A group with a slightly different name, BathNES Lib Dems, spent £121 promoting its "StopMogg" Facebook page aiming to oust Jacob Rees-Mogg from the North East Somerset seat. 

The Bath Labour Party has spent less than £100 since last October, while in North East Somerset, Labour candidate Mark Huband had a £100 ad funded by the party. 

Bath and North East Somerset Green Party has spent about £100 in the last year boosting 11 Facebook posts. 

Bath and North East Somerset Conservatives have spent £130 on ads, including one headed "Bath Lib Dem clean air zone tax bombshell" ahead of the local elections in May. 

Peasedown St John councillors Karen Walker and Sarah Bevan paid £271 for Facebook adverts to retain their seats on the council, while Evan Rudowski, the BIG candidate for Bathwick, spent around £100 explaining why he should be elected. 

Away from party politics, campaign group Bath for Europe has splashed out £3,108 on ads about the People's Vote march and urging people to "send a message to our politicians" in the European elections in May.

Facebook's ad library shows that organisations have spent £9.5 million on 116,696 adverts about social issues, elections or politics since October 2018. 

Nationally, the Lib Dems have paid the most for sponsored content on Facebook since October 2019 – £402,624 on 8,857 ads. 

The Tories have paid the firm £318,977, while Labour has coughed up £312,979. 

The Brexit Party's spend to date has been £237,421; for the Green Party the sum is £59,854.