This looks familiar … !
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s new election campaign website and logo are drawing comparisons to an unlikely source: The U.K. Independence Party, made famous by Brexit bomb-thrower Nigel Farage.
The VDL website, launched on Friday, features bright orange and purple hues and a spiffy new logo — a spinning circle of golden stars that references the EU flag and features the “Ursula 2024” slogan.
And would you look at that: Here’s the UKIP website, featuring a rotating yellow pound symbol on a purple background. Farage — who led UKIP until 2016 and was the primary Euroskeptic voice in Brussels for years — successfully spearheaded a yearslong campaign to haul the U.K. out of the EU.
Von der Leyen, who is campaigning for a second five-year term running the European Commission, will Monday night debate seven other EU election lead candidates for the first time on stage, in a debate co-hosted by POLITICO and Studio Europa Maastricht.
Contacted by POLITICO, a spokesperson for von der Leyen’s campaign didn’t answer whether they’d taken any thematic inspiration from UKIP.
“Our campaign showcases Ursula von der Leyen’s vision for a strong Europe,” he said. “It conveys a message of leadership, experience and confidence in the future, using a more personal tone. And it makes a dynamic, innovative use of digital communication, with an interactive website and a strong presence on social media.”
That’s cleared that up then.