The dangers of politicians being 'too online' - or not online enough

In early 2015, flower crowns started appearing on Ed Miliband's head. Petals and hearts were photoshopped on to the then-Labour leader by the "Milifandom", a movement of young, mostly female, voters sharing romanticised images on Twitter to protest against Miliband's "distorted media portrayal".

It was the brainchild of Abby Tomlinson, a 17-year-old sixth-form student, who came to the defence of the man she called "Milibae". The hashtag #Milifandom trended. Then Labour lost the 2015 election.

This prompted David Cameron, whose Conservatives increased their number of seats, to boast: "Britain and Twitter are not the same thing." Tomlinson later told me that having her hopes of Milibae in No10 dashed had made her a "political pessimist", after realising winning over voters online "doesn't happen in a day, a week or even months, it's going to take years".

More than a decade on and she is again using social media to big up a Labour leader, but this time in the heart of government. She sits in the press office in No 12 Downing Street as head of content for Andy Burnham. The government has spent the last few weeks recruiting producers, videographers and strategists, working out of both Whitehall and No 10 North in Manchester.

In his first month as PM, Burnham posted more than 50 times on Instagram, ranging from meetings with world leaders, campaigners, farmers and influencers, to meme-based content like ranking pub snacks with Chancellor John Healey as part of an announcement on business rates. Strategists believe Instagram and TikTok can play to Burnham's communication strengths and sense of humour.

They're all at it, of course. Videos of Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch tearing into the budget or mocking ex-PM Sir Keir Starmer have gone viral. Reform UK's Nigel Farage has by far the biggest online audience of any UK party leader, with 7.6 million followers across Facebook, Instagram, X, TikTok and YouTube.

In Scotland, the SNP have long mobilised their online army to campaign for independence, building a following larger than that of the Lib Dems, which campaigns across Britain, whose leader Ed Davey has achieved some success with campaign stunts going viral.

Restore Britain, founded by former Reform MP Rupert Lowe, enjoys its highest level of support among users of X. The platform is owned by Elon Musk who has publicly endorsed the party, expanding its reach.