Nigel Farage’s reputation as the best party leader at using social media to communicate with voters is under threat, according to a new analysis which suggests he has been overtaken by the new prime minister.
While Sir Keir Starmer’s ability to communicate with voters was regularly cited as one of his greatest weaknesses, his successor Andy Burnham has marked his first few weeks in No 10 with a series of savvy, slick social media clips to broaden his appeal to the wider public.
Mr Farage is widely regarded as one of the most effective political communicators in British politics, but a new study suggests Mr Burnham is beating him in the key battleground for political attention online.
The study, conducted by PR agency Tangerine, analysed five high-performing social media videos from each party leader, producing an “attention” score for Mr Burnham, Mr Farage, Kemi Badenoch, Ed Davey and Zack Polanski.
Each video was scored out of 10 based on its ability to capture attention quickly, emotionally engage viewers, remain memorable, and maintain focus throughout.
The analysis showed that Mr Burnham, who has caught attention with a number of social media videos including blind tasting pub snacks, illustrating fare caps with toy buses, and playing a guitar on the way back from Ukraine has stormed into the lead on 7.2 – eclipsing the 7 scored by Mr Farage.
Mr Polanski is on 6.4 in third place while Ms Badenoch is fourth on 6, with both showing no improvement in the last six months.
When the study was first conducted in March, Mr Farage was the clear leader with an average score of 6.9, with only Green leader Zack Polanski running him close on 6.4.
Kemi Badenoch was third on 6 while both Sir Keir and Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey trailed in joint last on 5.4.
Tangerine used the AI-based analysis platform Neurons to assess how effectively political social media videos capture the attention of voters.
The tool models how social media users visually and emotionally engage with video content, replicating the attention patterns typically achieved by high-performing influencers.
It also tested the likelihood of a video driving engagement, which is one factor that determines if a video goes viral and is promoted by a platform algorithm.
Sam Fisk, associate director at Tangerine, said of the new findings: “Andy Burnham has become the first influencer prime minister as he mimics successful social media personalities and prioritises viral videos over traditional media interviews.
“The prime minister’s social media stories have the viral x-factor, with short videos comprising of eye-catching openings and expressive storytelling.
“Above all, he has brought a level of authenticity that was often lacking in Keir Starmer’s over-polished and impersonal videos.
“MPs of all parties are now forced to become part-time influencers as they seek to game the algorithms to reach voters.
“Nigel Farage has long been the most effective social media operator with a set-format of videos that almost guarantees him to cut-through to larger audiences. The Reform leader was the first to employ influencer tactics, with most MPs still playing catch-up mode.
He added: “Authenticity will remain critical in this new TikTok era for Westminster. Unnatural performances could backfire for politicians seeking to build emotional connections with the audience.”
While Mr Farage is still regarded as one of the best communicators in frontline politics, the analysis represents another blow for the Reform UK leader, who has seen his party slip in the polls amid ongoing scrutiny over an undeclared £5 million gift from crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne and the loss of two key aides following revelations on Channel 4.
