DAN HODGES: The young women helping Burnham to win the Tiktok battle with Reform

By DAN HODGES, DAILY MAIL COLUMNIST Published: 22:00, 28 July 2026 | Updated: 01:06, 29 July 2026 Ellen Stewart says she is having a 'Harold Wilson summer'. The social media influencer's latest offering involves footage of the former Labour prime minister - resplendent in khaki shorts, pale blue T-shirt and binoculars – holidaying on the Isle of Man, as Lady Gaga's Summerboy plays jauntily in the background. This may seem a rather incongruous way for your average 19 year-old to trawl for followers on social media. But Stewart is operating to a higher purpose. Scattered among her content are slickly edited images of our new Prime Minister Andy Burnham, other members of the Cabinet (John Healey appears as the Government's 'Dark Knight', an homage to Christian Bale's Batman) and entreaties to vote for the 'Mainstream slate' in Labour's upcoming NEC elections. 'WE ARE DAN JARVIS WE CARRY THE FLAME,' exclaims one tweet. Nor is she carrying this flame alone. When Burnham entered Downing Street last week, Stewart who goes by the X handle 'AlGoreCrave', was surrounded by a group of youthful online activists. Each has been co-opted to promote his political agenda, and take the fight to Labour's opponents across the meme-ravaged battlefields of TikTok, Facebook and X. They have taken on a daring task: Trying to make Labour 'cool' again. And for the moment, it is a war they appear to be winning.    Until recently it was acknowledged across the parties that Reform were the social media masters. During the 2024 general election Nigel Farage's party reportedly generated three times as many social media interactions as Labour, despite the fact Starmer's party was outspending them on major paid advertising by a margin of over 60 to 1. But now Reform are lagging. Farage's social media activity has become almost exclusively focused on trying to help him save his Clacton seat from a man dressed as a bin. Where once his output was edgy and insurgent, over the past fortnight it has consisted of footage of him walking round his constituency in a slightly ill-fitting blazer, shaking hands with his former constituents. What's more, this increasingly ill-starred venture is absorbing more of Reform's social media resources, and has seen the party essentially abandon its campaign for the Manchester mayoralty. Labour's young TikTok team, from left: Will Newman, Lottie Viola, Megan Cassidy, Ellen Stewart and Poppy Alsford  A couple of weeks ago it was also announced Reform were 'shaking up' their social media team. The official reason was that this was a part of a broad refresh of their wider political operation. But in truth it was because Farage and his aides have become increasingly alarmed at the inroads being made into their former online base by Rupert Lowe, and his hard-Right insurgent party, Restore. As one Restore insider told me: 'We've being eating into Reform's social media support for months. And they're panicking'. Meanwhile, Andy Burnham's so-far successful social media operation is being masterminded by Abby Tomlinson, the former 'head of digital' for the Labour Party under Keir Starmer. Tomlinson rose to fame as the founder of the 'Milifans' youth movement that promoted Ed Miliband in the run-up to the 2015 election. Although his bid for power ended in failure, Labour's share of the vote among 18-24-year-olds rose by 12 points. 'Milifans is often placed alongside the EdStone as one of the great Ed Miliband failures,' one Labour insider told me, 'but Abby is properly sharp. The social media space is a jungle. And she knows how to cut through.' There is some evidence the current surge in Burnham's support is being driven by younger voters. According to a Yougov poll published yesterday, over the past month the number of 18-24-year-olds that support Labour has jumped from 14 per cent to 26 per cent. Not exactly a Youthquake, but possibly a Youthtremor. Burnham has posted slick videos using Love Island memes, 'blind ranking pub snacks' with the Chancellor and even teaming up with the influencer Bemi Orojuogun – known as 'Bus Aunty' – to announce his cap on bus fares. All very clickable. But there are potential risks attending our Prime Minister's enthusiastic social media strategy. The first is while time and effort is being ploughed into his online media operation, his more traditional media engagement is experiencing teething problems. Yesterday, Burnham expressed his frustration at reports he was contemplating a major reconfiguration of council tax and stamp duty. 'I don't know where some of the stories that have appeared over the past 24 hours have come from,' he said in exasperation. But since his victory in the Makerfield by-election he has been forced to do a low level fire-fighting, damping down apparently ill-sourced speculation on everything from an early election to a cut in the income tax allowance. Another problem is Labour's social media operation does appear to be genuinely organic, relying on a wide range of independent – if loosely co-ordinated – influencers like Ellen to spread the message through 'edits'. And, as is the nature of this form of communication, it is only a matter of time before one of Burnham's energetic teenage cheerleaders posts something they shouldn't have. Green leader Zack Polanski is currently under investigation from the Metropolitan Police after he (or his social media team) reposted an image of one of his activists sporting a T-shirt with a guillotine, and the slogan 'making plans for Nigel'. In the current highly charged political environment the benchmark for a social media scandal is lower than ever. Then there is the issue of Burnham's target audience. His strategy may well be cutting through to younger voters. But, he is targeting a section of the electorate that is notoriously hard to mobilise come election day. As James Carville, Bill Clinton's political strategist, once caustically observed: 'You show me a campaign strategy based on young and first-time voters and I'll show you a losing campaign.' But in the world of social media, the medium is the message. And Andy Burnham's use of a group of young, enthusiastic influencers is having the desired effect. Social media is delivering us an Andy Burnham Summer. Our new Prime Minister may as well bask in its rays while he can.