Labour 'appoint employee to work directly with TikTok influencers'

During previous UK elections, political parties often asked big-name celebrities to send a supportive Tweet or attempted to win over YouTubers with millions of followers.

The Guardian is now reporting that the intention, according to political campaigners and digital marketing consultants, is to cut through to niche audiences hooked on scrolling through videos on their phones.

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One campaigner told the newspaper: “It’s less about finding people with a million followers. 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 with candidates now being promised support from HQ in winning over influencers.

The party recently hired a dedicated creator outreach manager which is a standard role in many private-sector advertising campaigns.

The Guardian reports that party did not return a request for comment although The National has reached out. 

In the USA, political campaigns often hand over money in return for supportive content by small-follower TikTok or Instagram accounts.

While there is no law banning political parties from doing the same in the UK, British advertising rules require paid social media promotions to be labelled as adverts – meaning any paid partnership is likely to look inauthentic.