A perennial head-scratcher for progressives is how to craft a simple, compelling message on the economy. One Labour MP found the answer in a few packets of M&S biscuits.
Gordon McKee, who represents Glasgow South, has racked up more than 3.3m views on X with an 101-second video in which he demonstrates the UK’s debt to GDP ratio using stacks of custard creams and chocolate bourbons.
It may not seem like a major feat when several of the world’s most impactful politicians – Donald Trump, Nigel Farage and Zohran Mamdani among them – have used sleekly produced short-form videos to spread their campaign messages with considerable success.
But in the parliamentary Labour party McKee is a pioneer, and the only backbencher known to have hired a digital content creator.
The decision has paid off, with a series of professional-grade videos using grabby analogies designed to go viral. In recent weeks a few of his colleagues have began to emulate him, including the Leeds East MP Richard Burgon.
“I feel like I should apologise for having started this!” McKee joked – before arguing that digital comms and campaigning was now essential for politicians.
He said he aimed to produce a couple of such videos a week and was focused on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube Shorts, which unlike X reach audiences beyond the politically hyper-engaged.
“I spoke at a high school in my constituency last week and I asked how many people read a newspaper every day – one put their hand up. When I asked how many are on Instagram, they all did,” he said.
“The way people consume information has changed enormously in the last 10 years but the way politicians and MPs communicate with their constituents hasn’t as much.”
There are signs that the Labour party machine is cranking into gear. Keir Starmer emailed Labour MPs on 21 November announcing a “significant investment” from the party in “new comprehensive training programme” in digital campaigning.
Internally, the party has unveiled what it calls “Operation Second Term” to modernise its campaign operation – using social media and an app called Labour One – on the basis that “the way we campaigned in 2024 won’t be how we win again in 2029”.
MPs are also increasingly taking the initiative. Burgon used 200 packets of Sainsbury’s fusilli to demonstrate just how much £1bn is compared with the average UK salary of £33,000. His video has garnered nearly 650,000 views on X.
“I was going around the church fairs in the constituency this weekend – it was amazing how many people had seen the video,” Burgon said. “I’ve been campaigning for a wealth tax for a while and it seemed a fun way of communicating that.”
The 106kg mountain of pasta, which Burgon’s parliamentary researcher bought the weekend before last, could not feasibly be transported to Leeds and so has been donated to food banks in London.
Jeevun Sandher, the MP for Loughborough and an economist, made a James Bond-themed video during budget week explaining the various factors that affect government bond rates. “I’d love it if people read my 2,000-word essays but they don’t. You have to find a way of being engaging,” he said.
He relies on his existing team of parliamentary staffers – armed with a smartphone and ring-light mounted on to a tripod in the corner of his office – to produce online content. Social media planning is part of his office’s regular weekly catchup meeting.
Asked whether the government should be doing more to encourage MPs to modernise their communication, Sandher thinks that would risk becoming too regimented.
“It works quite well when it’s more organic and people understand what the government’s message is and take it on in different ways,” he said. “When you have a unified vision, everyone should be able to read off that script.”
Several junior ministers are also experimenting with social media, including the Treasury exchequer secretary, Dan Tomlinson, who filmed a chatty pre-budget clip on his way to Gregg’s for a doughnut at Westminster tube station, and the AI minister Kanishka Narayan who shot a video on his iPhone about the technology’s growth in the UK.
Some of the cabinet are also getting involved – Steve Reed, the housing secretary, did an “ask me anything” session on Reddit about a policy to reopen local pubs in September, and Ed Miliband, the energy secretary, who is a longtime vertical video enthusiast, used ASMR to promote a government announcement on small modular reactors (SMR).
“During the general election we had a big old team to support people doing this stuff and now they’re having to do that within their own offices,” said a Labour source. “It’s harder when you’re not attacking and instead having to defend and make a positive story about something, which is why you’ve got to be even more creative. It’s a difficult skill to learn but it’s an absolutely essential one.”
McKee argued that the challenge was especially acute for the left because rightwingers such as Farage and Robert Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary, are skilful at communicating very clear and simple stories on and off social media.
“The task from progressives is to articulate a complex argument that is realistic and ambitious but also real and deliverable – and to do that in an interesting, engaging way,” he said.
