Reform storms ahead of tories in the 'tiktok election'

Reform sits only just behind Labour in terms of popularity on TikTok, analysis reveals, in the first general election in which the youth-orientated social media platform is set to play a

significant role. In a perhaps surprising finding given the perception of Reform UK’s vote as trending towards the elderly, the party has 132,000 followers, with only Labour ahead, on

142,900. Both parties are well ahead of the Conservatives, who trail in their wake on 41,500 followers, a worrying finding for Rishi Sunak and his hopes of getting through to younger voters

in what’s being called the UK’s first TikTok election. FOLLOW THE TELEGRAPH’S GENERAL ELECTION LIVE BLOG Lagging still further behind are the Liberal Democrats with just 13,400 followers.

The figures come as Reform, the Tories and Labour on Saturday launched their respective “battle buses” to tour the country and drum up support among voters. Speaking at a launch event, Nigel

Farage, Reform’s honorary president, said he was “optimistic” his party could pick up “a good number of seats” come election day. “We just need a couple more percentage points. If we could

get to that, then we could win a good number of seats. I feel there’s some momentum with us,” he said. “I am optimistic we can get a bounce in the polls, further from where we are. That gets

us into that territory at which we can start to win seats in reasonable numbers.” A KEY BATTLEGROUND While none of the major parties had a notable TikTok following before the election, the

platform is quickly becoming a key battleground, as parties move to win over voters with content ranging from Q&As to memes attacking their opponents. “It’s worth noting that the three

major parties are really new to the game,” Kate Dommett, professor of digital politics at the University of Sheffield, told Sky News. Labour was the first to embrace the social media app,

setting up an account on May 24 – the day after the election was called – swiftly followed by the Tories. Breaking ground on the digital campaign trail is thought to be particularly

important for cutting through to younger voters, with up to 71 per cent of 16- to 24-year-olds using social media as their main source of news. Reform is also leading the way on Facebook,

thought to be used by older voters, despite spending nothing on ads, according to The Times. In the first week of the campaign the Tories spent almost £200,000 on Facebook ads, and Labour

more than £500,000. However, of the 52 most liked posts on Facebook by political parties since the election was called, 32 were posted by Reform. This suggests Reform’s messages are

spreading “organically” – thanks to people regularly interacting with them – rather than being artificially boosted by advertising.