The UK’s first TikTok PM? Andy Burnham channels Zohran Mamdani as he hits social media
Before Burnham stepped inside No 10 this week he promised to “do things differently” in British politics.
Before Burnham stepped inside No 10 this week he promised to “do things differently” in British politics. If his feed is anything to go by, he’s already way ahead of his predecessor.
Burnham’s social media team have done away with the buttoned-up operation of Keir Starmer, opting instead for a style that has already drawn comparisons to another much more “online” politician: the mayor of New York, Zohran Mamdani.
Burnham’s TikTok page this week has revealed him to be a man (or at least a man who pays someone) who enjoys a meme, someone who comments with emojis, collaborates with influencers and chats policy while pouring a pint.
Noticeable were the policy announcements shot in primarily vertical videos, ideal for mobile phone consumption on TikTok, Facebook and Instagram.
“He’s gone all in on the TikTok style,” said Andrew Chadwick, professor of political communication at Loughborough University. “So far, he’s had some very simple, clear policy pledges that cut through.”
During the lead-up to his first day in No 10, Burnham’s team also released a 2.5-minute video of Burnham inviting people in Cardiff to “ask Andy anything” from addressing homelessness and social care to supporting pubs and the hospitality sector.
Searches for “Andy Burnham” on TikTok surged by more than 2,000% day on day in the UK when he became prime minister on Monday.
Burnham started off his first day with a handheld video outside a centre for the London-based homelessness charity The Passage, promising to end rough sleeping “at the first opportunity”. A “day one” montage posted later on, showing him inside The Passage, meeting his cabinet and speaking outside No 10, received more than 820,000 views.
His team also posted two prepackaged videos starring influencers and celebrities. Burnham joined Sir Mo Farah for a jog through London as part of the gold medallist’s YouTube series Run With Mo, which was reposted on Farah’s Instagram to his 1.9 million followers.
Social media is about content, of course but it’s also a numbers game. Burnham’s team showed that when they had him take part in the viral Career Ladder series, hosted by Ukrainian internet personality Max Klymenko, who has more than 9 million TikTok followers.
These collaboration deals offer Burnham “exposure” to new audiences and build a “constructed sense of authenticity” on the platform, said Chadwick. “Burnham has a brand to construct here. OK, big in the north-west of England, absolutely. But among most people, who don’t follow politics particularly closely, he’s got hard work to do.”
The world of social media is all about taking ideas and riffing on them – and imitation is, after all, the sincerest form of flattery, but one video from Burnham’s first week of posts showed just the kind of online profile he’d like to emulate.
The PM’s video on Wednesday, announcing his plans to cut VAT on energy bills – one of the more eye-catching in his week one policy blitz – received more than 1m views. Keen-eyed political watchers, however, spotted a similarity between his announcement video and one posted by Zohran Mamdani some months back.
The video, which starts with Burnham tapping the camera and stepping backward, references a video by Mamdani who in April used the same move to announce his pied-à-terre tax.
Those behind Mamdani’s digital strategy have taken note. “I think it’s great that he’s not shying away from these direct, creative references, while also doing some creative things of his own,” said Debbie Saslaw, co-founder of the political ad agency Melted Solids with Anthony DiMieri.
But Saslaw also has a warning for Burnham: “I saw, during the campaign, he jumped on a lot of Instagram meme trends. Stay away from that. That’s something that becomes automatically cringe, no matter who does it.”
By Wednesday, Burnham’s TikTok feed had moved on to transport. “Next stop, £2 fares,” Burnham tells the camera, sat in the driver’s seat on a bus. The video recieved 240,000 likes and more than 2m views, making it his most popular post of the week. The post also starred Bemi Orojuogun, or “Bus Aunty”, who went went viral last year for sharing her love of London’s buses.
In his first week as PM, Burnham’s TikTok following rose by approximately 73%, from just under 99,000 to more than 170,000, according to consultancy Knox Digital. In terms of engagement, Burnham narrowly beat Starmer’s first week on TikTok in December 2025, at 6.29% to the previous PM’s 6.23%.
“There is an authentic style that comes through” in Burnham’s videos, said Andrew Bard Epstein, the communications director on Mamdani’s election campaign. “Where it feels different, substantively, from Zohran is the ambition of the agenda.”
He added: “In terms of style and authenticity, he is clearing the very low bar left by Keir Starmer. But unless it is matched with some stronger stuff – on confronting concentrated power, inequality and a diminishing quality of life in a way that feels like it meets the scale of the crisis – I wonder if people may grow tired of it.”
