The Government has spent more than £500,000 on social media influencers in the past two years, new data has shown.
Since the beginning of 2024, expenditure on social media influencers has exceeded half a million pounds with Whitehall departments hiring more than 200 content creators to promote their initiatives.
A total of 215 influencers were engaged across the period, with numbers rising from 89 in 2024 to 126 this year.
Education officials accounted for the lion’s share of spending at £350,000 since 2024.
The department deployed 53 content creators in 2025, up from 26 the previous year.
The figures, obtained through Freedom of Information requests by public relations firm Tangerine, reveal the Home Office, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Defence and Department for Work and Pensions were amongst those departments making significant use of paid social media personalities.
The strategy represents an effort to connect with younger demographics through platforms including TikTok.
Ministers have increasingly engaged personalities popular with younger demographics.
Ministers spent more than half a million pounds on influencers, and FOI revealed
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PA
Examples include scientist Simon Clark broadcasting his video call with Starmer to 73,000 Instagram followers, whilst campaigner Anna Whitehouse shared discussions with Bridget Phillipson about childcare failings to 444,000 followers in July.
No10 regards the influencer landscape as valuable for connecting with audiences who seldom consume traditional news media.
The Department for Work and Pensions invested £120,023 during 2025 on eight content creators, having employed none the previous year.
These campaigns were designed to communicate policies and available support to vulnerable households.
Keir Starmer officiall joined TikTok last week
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TIKTOK/@KEIRSTARMER
Business and Trade officials spent £39,700 this year after engaging 17 influencers across both years.
Those hired included Bella Roberts, Krish Kara, Noah Brierley, Rotimi Merriman-Johnson (known as Mr MoneyJar), Beth Fuller and Jasmine Shum.
Justice officials deployed 12 social media personalities since 2024 to support recruitment drives.
These campaigns targeted prospective prison officers, probation officers and magistrates.
Most departments declined to provide detailed information, citing commercial confidentiality.
Sam Fisk, associate director at Tangerine, described the Government as scrambling to capture the attention of “young and apathetic voters”.
“The public are craving authentic voices and increasingly turning off from watching ministers trumpet out pre-rehearsed political soundbites,” Fisk said.
“The Government shouldn’t be sneered at for their use of influencers.
“This is a smart shift given the fall in TV viewership, however, the challenge is now delivering genuinely high-quality content.
“It won’t be easy to stop a Gen Z scrolling for a Government advert.”
The new data comes after the Prime Minister himself expanded onto social platforms.
Sir Keir Starmer received moderate praise for his “borderline competent” TikToks following his account’s launch last week.
He has also joined Substack, writing in his inaugural post: “People have a right to know how decisions that affect them are taken and why.
“And I believe all politicians should explore innovative new ways to do that.”