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Next time you\u2019re scrolling on TikTok or Instagram and that fitness guru or \u201cmumfluencer\u201d you follow pops up, they might be joined by an unexpected guest.<\/p>\n
As part of a UK government strategy to reach voters on social media \u2013 where more than half of people now get their news \u2013 ministers including Keir Starmer are making appearances on some of the most popular channels.<\/p>\n
Last week, the science communicator Simon Clark broadcast his FaceTime call with Starmer at the Cop30 climate summit in Brazil to his 73,000 followers.<\/p>\n
<\/span>Anna Whitehouse, AKA Mother Pukka.<\/span> Photograph: Mark Kerrison\/Alamy<\/p>\n The campaigner Anna Whitehouse \u2013 who goes by Mother Pukka \u2013 posted clips of her conversation with Bridget Phillipson about the inadequacies of the English childcare system to 444,000 followers in July.<\/p>\n And earlier this month, two personal finance influencers, Cameron Smith and Abi Foster, were given front-row seats at Rachel Reeves\u2019s press conference where she warned voters about forthcoming tax rises.<\/p>\n Downing Street views the influencer ecosystem as a useful way to reach audiences who rarely engage with the traditional media. But to critics, the model is a way of avoiding serious scrutiny of controversial policy in favour of softball questions from interviewers with little grasp of the crunchy technical details.<\/p>\n A government source said over the past year, working with content creators had become \u201cpart and parcel\u201d of government comms. \u201cContent creators have highly trusted audiences and they talk about issues that those audiences really, really care about,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s rarely a visit that the PM goes on that content creators aren\u2019t invited to now \u2026 We really want to scale this up. The press conference that Rachel did last week where there were creators in the front row \u2013 that was the first, but we don\u2019t want that to be the exception.\u201d<\/p>\n A government spokesperson added that \u201ctalking to people who don\u2019t get their news from traditional outlets \u2026 is crucial as we rebuild trust\u201d.<\/p>\n The strategy is led by Caitlin Roper, Starmer\u2019s director of digital communications, and the New Media Unit (NMU) she runs in the Cabinet Office that employs about 20 people. At the NMU\u2019s instigation, earlier this year government departments contacted the top influencers in their area and invited them to a \u201ccreators\u2019 breakfast\u201d in Downing Street.<\/p>\n <\/span>Alexander Dragonetti.<\/span> Photograph: Dave Benett\/Max Cisotti\/WireImage<\/p>\n It was the first of a series of events, with a reception for about 80 influencers \u2013 with a quarter of a billion followers between them \u2013 held in No 10 over the summer. Alexander Dragonetti, a former diplomat who was a popular contestant on The Traitors earlier this year, was among them. He later got access to Starmer after his September meeting with Donald Trump for a gentle interview about the nature of the two men\u2019s relationship.<\/p>\n After attending the Reeves press conference this month, both Smith and Foster have argued that inviting social media creators to cover press events is not enough \u2013 politicians need to learn to engage with them in a different way.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve definitely tried to make clear that they shouldn\u2019t treat us like journalists,\u201d Smith said. \u201cI\u2019ll take Rachel Reeves as an example \u2013 she\u2019s a very, very normal person. But as soon as the cameras are running and you ask her a question about anything political or economic, the screen comes up; the face changes. You\u2019re treated as if you\u2019re a journalist trying to catch them out.\u201d<\/p>\n Gordon McKee, the Labour MP for Glasgow South, who employs a digital content creator to shape his online output including on TikTok, said: \u201cIt would be a mistake to treat social media the way you treat an evening news bulletin. You\u2019re competing with videos of cats, not whatever\u2019s on BBC Two.\u201d<\/p>\n Some lobby journalists, who under an 150-year-old system are given access to government briefings and the parliamentary estate, are sceptical of the value of content creators questioning politicians and believe a more combative style is essential.<\/p>\n \u201cInfluencers will soon learn that the fluff ministers hope to disseminate through their channels contains little of interest or use to their followers,\u201d one lobby journalist said.<\/p>\n \u201cReal reporters understand that what politicians refuse to tell us is often more revealing. So we ask uncomfortable questions. Not getting proper answers might seem nonsensical on the face of it. But listening to politicians waffle in their comfort zones is far worse.\u201d<\/p>\n One thing that influencers are witnessing is the online backlash that comes with platforming politicians who are part of a highly unpopular government.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of mixed feelings amongst my audience,\u201d Smith said. \u201cSome people think it\u2019s really forward-thinking to be getting people like me into the room \u2026 On the other hand, there\u2019s people that might perceive me as being almost like a mouthpiece for the government, somebody who\u2019s being manipulated.\u201d<\/p>\n Jim Waterson, a former Guardian media correspondent who runs the online outlet London Centric, said: \u201cI was talking to someone this week who runs an Instagram account that reaches tens of millions of young people \u2013 and he said he went out of his way to avoid any news and turns down requests from politicians, because his audience would react negatively.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you\u2019re in government comms you\u2019ve got to try something different. But the version that will ultimately succeed will probably be far more radical than just inviting an influencer into a lobby briefing \u2013 it\u2019ll involve an internet-native politician who instinctively understands what\u2019s going on.\u201d<\/p>\n