Insurgent Politicians Outperform Establishment Rivals on TikTok, Analysis Shows

Insurgent politicians and rebel MPs are vastly outpacing their establishment rivals on the social media platform TikTok, new analysis shared with POLITICO shows.

Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, is the most effective U.K. political performer on the video-sharing site, according to a study of the views, virality, frequency and engagement of more than 11,000 TikTok posts since the start of the year.

The new ranking — drawn up by Knox Digital, a consultancy run by two former Downing Street digital advisers — puts ex-Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who now heads up the upstart left-wing Your Party, in second. Nadia Whittome, the 29-year-old left-wing Labour MP, is in third place.

Reform UK MPs Robert Jenrick and Sarah Pochin, far-right Restore Britain’s Rupert Lowe, independent MP Ayoub Khan and left-wing Labour MP Richard Burgon also make it into the top 10.

Katie Lam — an opposition Conservative party whip — is the only frontbench politician to feature in the study’s top 10 most effective Westminster TikTok users, despite a raft of government ministers and other senior Conservative party figures establishing themselves on the platform.

Unlike Meta platforms, such as Facebook and Instagram, paid political advertising is not allowed on TikTok. It means that parties are forced to build audiences via direct interaction with their content.

How the numbers break down

In the month to June 10, posts from Reform UK-affiliated accounts gained an average 206,600 views per post — 12 times the reach per post of accounts affiliated to the ruling Labour Party.

Since the start of the year, the content of the insurgent left-wing Green Party and its leader Zack Polanski meanwhile attracted the highest engagement rate from users of the app.

“Insurgent parties and politicians are winning online,” Knox Digital founder Jock McMillan said. “As we’re seeing Reform and the Greens grow in the polls, we’re seeing a reflection of this online — especially amongst younger audiences disenchanted with the status quo.”

The study shows content about immigration has the highest overall reach on U.K. political TikTok, while posts discussing LGBT issues have the highest engagement.

The far-right Restore Britain party — led by former Farage ally Lowe — has also seen a major surge in popularity on the platform since it announced it would field a candidate in this weeks’ crucial Makerfield by-election.

The average engagement with posts from Lowe and his party, including content about grooming gangs and its hard-line immigration policies, has risen 47 percent since the by-election was called in May, the study finds. The average number of views of those posts has risen a further 20 percent.