‘The next general election will be won on vibes’

The next general election will be won on vibes.

We see politicians like Farage and Polanski completely dominating the social media landscape. Now is the last chance for Labour to fight back. We’re facing a pivotal moment: a spark of hope has been reignited by Burnham’s win – I am pleading with anyone who listens to not let this opportunity go to waste.

Vibes and policy – we don’t have to choose

Labour has the advantage of being in government, but this leads some to believe that we can’t do ‘vibes-based’ politics; that we can only focus on policy. I say, why can’t we do both? What’s the point in having good policy if no one knows about it?

The medium for communication has shifted. Most voters don’t read manifestos or watch debates. Most get their news – and views – from social media, especially young people. TikTok offers access to a voter base with a historically low turnout, and as we plan to extend the vote to 16 and 17-year-olds, we should be occupying the space where they spend most of their time. If we don’t, we risk continuing their disillusionment with our political system.

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For the past two years I’ve been posting ‘edits’ – Labour history and current figures clipped to modern music – on my TikTok account @politicsprincess, gaining millions of views and thousands of followers. I recently shifted to posting current politicians, like Andy Burnham and Dan Jarvis, which just this month have cleared a million views.

I’m far from alone: there’s an ever-expanding circle of young creators organically posting Labour content, some of whom went on to work alongside Burnham’s communications team for the Makerfield by-election.

Burnham’s team understands the importance of organic content. There are things that land differently if it isn’t posted by an official account. Using fan accounts, we can bypass disillusionment in authority figures. Outside of edits, his team knows how to find the right tone for a politician’s content. Less speeches, and more speaking freely. 

Spoken directly to you

People are clearly drawn to Burnham’s authenticity. His daily campaign update videos pitching his plan for change were spoken directly to you, from the front camera of an iPhone. These were sprinkled in between videos about football and his memories from the area. It struck a perfect balance between ‘vibes’ and policy.

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I can only take so many more sterile videos of MPs robotically reading from a script about legislation, receiving a total of thirty likes. My desperation lunges through the screen as I want to wail: “Let me help you! I could make this so much better.”

This frustration motivated me to start my ‘MP core’ video series: static, aesthetic moodboards that I felt matched the MP, set to trending songs. The response I had to the videos was incredibly encouraging. In my comment sections a sense of pride and appreciation began to build, particularly when viewers saw an edit of an MP who represented them. 

5,000 pro-Labour videos a month…But they have to actually be good.

While doing my research, I was surprised to find that many MPs don’t have a strong social media presence. Labour has the advantage of boasting over 400 MPs, and if each of them posted three videos a week we could have over 5,000 pro-Labour videos a month. But they have to actually be good.

My frustrations turned to hope when I was approached by Dan Tomlinson, MP for Chipping Barnet and Treasury minister. His comms staffer shared my view that the next election will be fought and won through video, but didn’t know where to start translating “vibes” to local issues, thorny Treasury policy, and the day-to-day of parliamentary life.

We worked together to turn a local petition into an aesthetic video, coupled with a trending song. A refreshing tonic for audiences in a sea of clunky, corporate Canva churns. 

Simplicity and authenticity are key

You don’t need to have fancy editing chops or rehearsed one-liners to make effective content. Just as someone opens a social media platform for a quick scroll – your content should be off-the-cuff, on-the-fly – simplicity and authenticity are key.

Don’t let the cynical pundits on X tell you that this kind of authentic messaging is ‘cringe’ – we’re not making these videos for them. We’re making them for millions of young viewers who feel completely disconnected from political content.

My message to MPs is this: You should be prioritising your social media output even more than you prioritise your media engagements. With social media, you have complete autonomy over your messaging and image – a gift when we’re up against a majority right-leaning press and an Elon-run X algorithm.

There is a legion of Labour editors at your disposal. Give us the material, give us the jobs and opportunities, and we might just win you an election.

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