Reform UK may be winning the first TikTok election
If this is the first TikTok election, you might be surprised at who’s winning.
On the youngest, buzziest social media platform, Reform UK – whose vote tends somewhat towards the elderly – has the most followers, 125,500, just ahead of Labour on 108,500.
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But others are catching up fast – and how they’re using it reveals a lot about a key digital battleground in this election, one of the only arenas where money doesn’t buy you influence.
Because this is new territory. “It’s worth noting that the three major parties are really new to the game,” says Kate Dommett, professor of digital politics at the University of Sheffield.
No major party had much of a TikTok presence before the election was called. Now they’re racing to build them on the fly.
Labour has found success by posting lots of videos, and using rapid reaction memes like this, which has racked up millions of likes.
Compare that to the Conservatives, who have posted only eight videos so far, most of them featuring senior party figures speaking to camera.
Or compare that to the Liberal Democrats, who only launched their TikTok account on Tuesday – they’ve got the same meme-heavy approach as Labour.
Why does that matter?
“I’d invest everything in organic TikTok content,” says Sean Topham. “I think that’s got the best opportunity to penetrate, catch fire, get the attention of people, for all the right reasons.”
Mr Topham has worked with previous Conservative campaigns and his consultancy, Topham Guerin, was part of last year’s victorious general election campaign in New Zealand.
“Catching fire” is important – and it’s also why Reform’s impressive follower count may not ultimately matter.
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“That’s never really been the measure on TikTok because your content can organically catch fire and perform really well,” Topham says. “You don’t need to have 125,000 followers to have 10 to 20 million views on a video.
“And that’s really where the emphasis could or should be for campaigns – creating good content that overwhelms the size or immediate reach of your profile.”
Mr Topham convinced the now New Zealand prime minister, in his fifties, to do “get ready with me” (GRWM) videos, but also mixed that with more serious policy videos.
“The prime minister would come up to us after a few days campaigning, saying people are coming up to me and they only recognise me from TikTok. So it just goes to show that the cut-through happens not just with younger voters as well. There’s a lot of middle-aged and older demographics increasingly using TikTok to get their news and information, and they use it.”
There’s also another dynamic. Having seen the trouble that other platforms have gotten into, TikTok has a blanket ban on political advertising.
The millions of pounds we have already seen poured into Instagram and YouTube don’t work here. So organic reach becomes key.
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And, behind closed doors, both parties have tools for boosting that reach.
The Conservatives have been heavily pushing their Share 2 Win app. It makes it very easy for users to share messages from Conservative HQ to various social media platforms. Notably, TikTok is not one of them.
The more you share on your own social platforms, the more coins you earn, with a chance to jump up the leaderboard.
Labour has a slightly different emphasis. Its Labour digital campaigners group runs on WhatsApp and offers links to national and local graphics and encourages people to send in their own stories and why people may be voting Labour.
The idea is not simply to share centrally approved content, though. At a recent online seminar over Zoom, on how to master the “digital door knock”, the main points were to share messages organically and through friends and family groups online, rather than repost videos of politicians.
“Keep it personal” was the title of one of the slides, whilst another gave four tips for telling a good story – one of the tips being “don’t be too political”.
“That sharing from your friends, from your family, can be more persuasive than just kind of saying something that’s broadcast from a political party,” Professor Dommett explains.
“So this is where organic comes in. It’s something that pops up, you know, it’s often shared by someone that we know, and therefore it’s likely to resonate a little bit more.”
Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch has called on Sir Keir Starmer to sack Treasury minister Tulip Siddiq over allegations she lived in properties linked to allies of her aunt, Sheikh Hasina, the deposed prime minister of Bangladesh.
It comes after the current Bangladeshi leader, Muhammad Yunus, said London properties used by Ms Siddiq should be investigated.
He told the Sunday Times the properties should be handed back to his government if they were acquired through “plain robbery”.
Tory leader Ms Badenoch said: “It’s time for Keir Starmer to sack Tulip Siddiq.
“He appointed his personal friend as anti-corruption minister and she is accused herself of corruption.
“Now the government of Bangladesh is raising serious concerns about her links to the regime of Sheikh Hasina.”
Ms Siddiq insists she has “done nothing wrong”.
Her aunt was ousted from office in August following an uprising against her 20-year leadership and fled to India.
Ms Siddiq is also named with her aunt in Bangladesh court documents about meetings with the Russian government.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has called on Sir Keir to sack the minister
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As economic secretary to the Treasury, Ms Siddiq is responsible for policy on both the City and tackling corruption.
She referred herself to the prime minister’s ethics watchdog on Monday following the reports about the properties.
On the same day, the prime minister said: “Tulip Siddiq has acted entirely properly by referring herself to the independent adviser, as she’s now done, and that’s why we brought into being the new code.
“It’s to allow ministers to ask the adviser to establish the facts, and yes, I’ve got confidence in her, and that’s the process that will now be happening.”
Police in Aberdeen have widened the search area for two sisters who disappeared four days ago in the city.
Eliza and Henrietta Huszti, both 32, were last seen on CCTV on Market Street after leaving their home on Tuesday at around 2.12am.
The sisters – who are part of a set of triplets and originally from Hungary – crossed the Victoria Bridge to the Torry area and turned right on to a footpath next to the River Dee.
Eliza and Henrietta Huszti were last seen on CCTV in Market Street. Pic: Police Scotland/PA
They headed in the direction of Aberdeen Boat Club but officers said there is no evidence to suggest the missing women left the immediate area.
Specialist search teams, police dogs and a marine unit have been trying to trace the pair.
The sisters crossed Victoria Bridge before walking along a footpath next to the River Dee
The pair were heading in the direction of Aberdeen Boat Club on the south side of the River Dee
Further searches are being carried out towards the Port of Aberdeen’s South Harbour and Duthie Park.
Police Scotland said it is liaising with authorities in Hungary to support the relatives of the two sisters.
Chief Inspector Darren Bruce said: “Eliza and Henrietta’s family are understandably extremely worried about them and we are working tirelessly to find them.
“We are seriously concerned about them and have significant resources dedicated to the inquiry.”
The sisters, from Aberdeen city centre, are described as slim with long brown hair.
Henrietta Huszti. Pic: Police Scotland
Eliza Huszti. Pic: Police Scotland
Officers have requested businesses in and around the South Esplanade and Menzies Road area to review their CCTV footage for the early morning of Tuesday 7 January.
Police added they are keen to hear from anyone with dashcam footage from that time.
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