The Advertising Standards Authority has upheld a complaint against an advert relating to the February elections for the Architecture Registration Board

The advert published by the ARB Reform Group in the RIBA Journal stated: “ARB presently has a majority of lay appointees who have consistently joined together to out-vote the elected architects.”

During the ASA’s investigation the Reform Group admitted that the complainant, ARB member Tom Woolley, was correct to say that few formal votes had, in fact, taken place. But it said that, given that the lay members were in a majority, “views were clear without a vote taking place”.

In its adjudication, the ASA concluded that the Reform Group’s claim was likely to mislead.