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DAN HODGES: The young women helping Burnham to win the TikTok battle with Reform
Young social media activists are helping newly installed Labour Prime Minister Andy Burnham outperform Nigel Farage's Reform UK in the online battle for political attention, according to Daily Mail columnist Dan Hodges. A team of influencers, including 19-year-old Ellen Stewart, produce slick, meme-driven content promoting Burnham and his allies across TikTok, Facebook and X, part of an effort to make Labour appear "cool" again after Reform previously dominated online. This matters because social media reach has become a key battleground in British politics, and Reform's apparent slippage coincides with internal turmoil and a rising challenge from a hard-Right rival.
Reform reportedly generated three times as many social media interactions as Labour during the 2024 general election despite being heavily outspent on paid advertising, but Farage's output has since narrowed to defending his own Clacton seat, and the party has largely dropped its Manchester mayoral campaign. Reform recently revamped its social media team, which insiders attribute to alarm over Rupert Lowe's rival party, Restore, eroding its online support. Meanwhile, Burnham's operation is run by Abby Tomlinson, former Labour "head of digital" and founder of the pro-Ed Miliband "Milifans" movement ahead of the 2015 election.
In short
- Young influencers are boosting PM Andy Burnham's social media profile over Reform UK
- Reform's online output has narrowed to defending Farage's Clacton seat
- Reform faces a growing online challenge from Rupert Lowe's Restore party
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Political engagement increasingly happens on platforms like TikTok where young voters spend their time, and there is nothing inherently problematic about professional communicators helping translate genuine political messages into formats audiences find compelling. Using skilled teams to produce engaging content is standard practice across all forms of communication, and political parties would be negligent to ignore channels where millions of voters are active. This approach may actually strengthen democracy by making politics more accessible and engaging to disaffected young voters who might otherwise disengage entirely.
The case against
There is a meaningful distinction between communicating political positions effectively and organising teams designed specifically to make politics seem "cool" through entertainment-driven content and personality cults around individual figures. This approach risks elevating media sophistication and youth appeal above substantive policy debate, creating a political culture where electoral success correlates with social media production budgets rather than genuine public persuasion on issues. Moreover, positioning young people—particularly teenagers barely into adulthood—as central to political campaigns raises concerns about whether they are agents genuinely endorsing positions or participants instrumentalised by professional operators for partisan advantage.
Explained simply
Social media has become a crucial battleground in modern British politics, with online engagement now rivalling traditional campaigning in terms of voter reach. During the 2024 general election, Nigel Farage's Reform UK proved particularly effective at gaining attention through platforms such as TikTok and Facebook, generating significantly more social media interactions than Labour despite being substantially outspent on paid advertising.
Since Labour's election victory and Andy Burnham's appointment as Prime Minister, the political landscape on social media has shifted markedly. Reform's focus has narrowed to defending Farage's Clacton seat, and the party has recently restructured its social media team in response to competition from Restore, a hard-Right rival.
Labour has responded by developing a more active and targeted social media strategy aimed at engaging younger voters and rebuilding the party's online presence. This reflects how central digital platforms have become to modern politics, as parties increasingly compete for the attention of voters who encounter political messages primarily through social media rather than traditional news outlets.
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