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This summer, TikTok has been revisiting very public, deeply personal and sometimes toxic feuds from the 1990s.<\/p>\n
And it is not just the Gallagher brothers \u2013 another psychodrama has taken hold: the rivalry between Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.<\/p>\n
Videos dedicated to New Labour\u2019s heyday are booming on the social media platform, posted by teens who were not even born then.<\/p>\n
The most viral examples splice together archival footage and quotes about the era, set to hit soundtracks from current pop artists such as Chappell Roan \u2013 who was born a year after Labour won its 1997 landslide.<\/p>\n
Popular videos from the New Labour revival include montages detailing the rivalry between Blair and his chancellor \u2013 peppered with fiery excerpts from Andrew Rawnsley\u2019s book The End of the Party \u2013 to the backing of songs such as Charli xcx\u2019s Girl, So Confusing and Radiohead\u2019s Let Down.<\/p>\n
Fan culture in politics has become increasingly popular, as a younger generation of digital natives reach voting age. Last summer, lime-green videos of Kamala Harris with songs from Charli xcx\u2019s smash album Brat went viral on X and TikTok, leading to mainstream conversations about \u201cbrat summer\u201d on CNN and Fox News.<\/p>\n
For 18-year-old Ellen, who runs the account @politicsprincess, the clips \u2013 or \u201cedits\u201d, in social media jargon \u2013 allow her to combine her interests of trawling video archives and pop culture.<\/p>\n
One of Ellen\u2019s most popular posts, which has 130,000 views, pairs tightly edited clips from the 1997 Labour party campaign with Justin Bieber and Nicki Minaj\u2019s Beauty and the Beat. The John Prescott punch, photos of Blair gazing over at Brown and even Saddam Hussein (to the lyric \u201cbeauty from the East\u201d) all feature in the highlights reel.<\/p>\n
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This article includes content provided by TikTok. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. To view this content, click ‘Allow and continue’<\/strong>.<\/p>\n \u201cI just became completely fascinated and obsessed with these people,\u201d says Ellen. \u201cWhat attracts me to it \u2026 these complex human relationships.\u201d<\/p>\n However, she adds: \u201cMost people understand that editing doesn\u2019t equal endorsement.\u201d<\/p>\n Charlie, who runs another New Labour-centric account, says she was engrossed by the \u201cBlair-Brown-Mandelson-Campbell psychodrama\u201d, referencing the arch-Labour strategists Peter Mandelson and Alastair Campbell \u2013 who have also become part of third way folklore.<\/p>\n Ellen and Charlie asked for their surnames to be withheld.<\/p>\n Edits, or fanvids, are short, modified videos that remix existing clips which are then overlaid with music, often to show appreciation for \u2013 or to satirise \u2013 a person or artwork.<\/p>\n Dr Lucy Bennett, a media lecturer at Cardiff University, said the edits also show how \u201cpolitical messaging is being increasingly processed through fan remix culture\u201d.<\/p>\n Many of the New Labour edit creators are aged between 17 and 21, and did not directly experience the New Labour era. Often A-level politics students, their introduction to that period of government comes from documentaries or archived footage shown in classrooms.<\/p>\n \u201cLolitics\u201d, the term for internet political fandoms, exists predominantly on Tumblr, X and TikTok. Users in the community create memes, videos and images about political figures and events, applying the language and practices of fan culture to politics with tongue-in-cheek whimsy.<\/p>\n Past examples of this content include the \u201cMilifandom\u201d of the early 2010s, a celebration of the then Labour party leader Ed Miliband. Users created endearments such as \u201cMilibae\u201d and Photoshopped images of Miliband in flower crowns.<\/p>\n Allow TikTok content?<\/p>\n This article includes content provided by TikTok. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. To view this content, click ‘Allow and continue’<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Political figures born in analogue times are taking note. During their live shows, The Rest Is Politics podcast hosts Alastair Campbell and Rory Stewart played TikTok posts made about them to the audience \u2013 including a montage of them with Casual by Chappell Roan playing in the background.<\/p>\n \u201cMost of the TikTok spoofs that The Rest Is Politics seems to have spawned are broadly affectionate in nature,\u201d Campbell said. \u201cSo, whilst often satirical, they in many ways help to ventilate support for the \u2018disagree agreeably\u2019 approach we are trying to take.\u201d<\/p>\n Stewart and Campbell watching the edit was \u201cpure insanity\u201d for its creator, Charlie, whose posts have garnered more than 1m likes. The podcast was Charlie\u2019s gateway into studying New Labour history. \u201cI then read the Alastair Campbell diaries \u2013 all eight volumes, by the way \u2013 and my jaw was on the floor.\u201d<\/p>\n She adds that a \u201cslight nostalgia\u201d for New Labour is common in the community. \u201cThe contrast of what came before and after makes it seem like one of our better periods of government in recent history.\u201d<\/p>\n For young people reaching voting age, their only exposure to politics has been the \u201cdisconcerting unpredictability\u201d of the 2010s, says Stephen Coleman, professor of political communication at the University of Leeds.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat I think they are doing is recovering a historical image of a different kind of politics. You did have improvements in the NHS, introduction of devolution, peace in Northern Ireland \u2013 big structural things.\u201d<\/p>\n He adds: \u201cI think the problem Keir Starmer is facing is people have lost touch with what it means to do normal politics.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/span>Liam and Noel Gallagher in 1999.<\/span> Photograph: Fiona Hanson\/PA<\/p>\n The <\/strong>Gallagher<\/strong> brothers<\/strong><\/p>\n Biggest hit<\/strong> Wonderwall tops the Oasis charts on Spotify with 2.4bn streams and was one of the standout tracks on the band\u2019s second album \u2013 (What\u2019s the story) Morning Glory? \u2013 which has sold more than 22m copies worldwide.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Most famous row<\/strong> A backstage fight between Liam and Noel shortly before going on stage at the Rock en Seine festival in Paris in 2009 led to the band breaking up for nearly 16 years.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Legacy<\/strong> Oasis are widely considered the kings of Britpop. Their musical legacy runs through many bands such as Fontaines DC, Kasabian and Arctic Monkeys.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Bandmates<\/strong> Alongside the Gallagher brothers, the original Oasis lineup comprised Paul \u201cBonehead\u201d Arthurs on guitar, Paul \u201cGuigsy\u201d McGuigan on bass guitar and Tony McCarroll on drums.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Famous fans<\/strong> Lewis Capaldi, Tom Cruise and Dua Lipa \u2013 to name but a few. And the entire Manchester City squad.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n <\/span>Blair and Brown in their New Labour heyday.<\/span> Photograph: Martin Argles\/The Guardian<\/p>\n Tony Blair<\/strong> and <\/strong>Gordon Brown<\/strong><\/p>\n Biggest hit<\/strong> <\/strong>Labour winning a 179-seat majority at the 1997 general election after 18 years of Conservative rule.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Most famous row<\/strong> <\/strong>Brown saying to Blair: \u201cThere is nothing that you could say to me now that I could ever believe,\u201d according to Robert Peston\u2019s biography of the chancellor.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Legacy<\/strong> Securing a peace deal in Northern Ireland with the Good Friday agreement, devolution in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and the Sure Start childcare scheme.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Bandmates<\/strong> Back-up vocalist Ed Miliband (went solo after a few years) and unifier Harriet Harman who served in both cabinets. They were followed by a rhythm section of Alastair Campbell and Brown adviser Ed Balls. All overseen by band manager Peter Mandelson \u2013 who is enjoying a comeback over in the US.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Famous fans<\/strong> Fellow third way-er and former US president Bill Clinton, Tory successor David Cameron and the UK prime minister, Keir Starmer.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nTales behind the fanvids<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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