Labour woos influencers in effort to win younger voters through TikTok

Labour has hired a dedicated employee to work with influencers and seed positive messages about Keir Starmer's party on TikTok and Instagram, as the UK's political parties prepare to target "microinfluencers" during the general election campaign.

- Jim Waterson 

During previous British elections political parties often asked big-name celebrities to send a supportive tweet or attempted to win over YouTubers with millions of followers. But this election the focus is shifting from a top-down approach towards winning over more "authentic" influencers with smaller but loyal followings.

The intention, according to political campaigners and digital marketing consultants, is to cut through to niche audiences hooked on scrolling through videos their phones. "It's less about finding people with a million followers," said one campaigner.

"It's more about finding authentic people who talk about an issue and can deliver a good message." Labour candidates say the party has been offering training to produce influencer-style content themselves, circumventing a dying local news industry. Candidates are now being promised support from the party in wooing influencers, with the party recently hiring a dedicated creator outreach manager - a standard role in many private sector advertising campaigns.

The party did not return a request for comment but pro-Labour influencers are likely to be offered support, updates on policies and access to politicians during the general election campaign.

The move shows how political parties are increasingly shifting resources away from wooing political journalists in an effort to directly reach audiences who are not giving their attention to traditional news outlets. Political parties also believe influencers are more trusted than politicians and some media outlets.