Government departments have disclosed that they have spent at least £2.4m working with social media influencers since July 2024. Departments have used influencers to promote campaigns on topics including career development, how to access benefits, as well as recruitment of teachers and prison officers. Of those providing figures, the Department for Education (DfE) has spent the most at more than £700,000, followed by HMRC, which has spent nearly £600,000, although this excludes agency fees. Departments said using influencers helped the government to reach people who may be harder to engage through traditional channels, with content creators paid fairly for their time and expertise.
They also stressed that all paid marketing campaigns were assessed to ensure they deliver value for money. However, Conservative shadow Cabinet Office minister Mike Wood said: “The government is spending hundreds of thousands of pounds of taxpayers’ money on influencers in a feeble attempt to cover for its failures. “It is becoming increasingly clear that if Labour want praise, they must pay for it.” The figures – which primarily cover the period when Sir Keir Starmer was prime minister – were revealed in responses to parliamentary questions submitted by the Conservatives and first reported by the Politics At Sam And Anne’s podcast, external. Andy Burnham’s plan to collaborate with social media creators Previous Conservative governments have also used influencers – who can include celebrities, podcasters, bloggers and social media creators – in campaigns.
For example, under Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, the Home Office paid TikTok influencers to encourage people not to cross the English Channel in small boats. In 2025/26, the Department for Education paid 57 social media influencers, who worked on campaigns including supporting career progression for young people, providing parents with childcare advice and recruiting more teachers. The department said this included Strictly Come Dancing’s Oti Mabuse and reality TV star Billie Shepherd, who both backed the government’s Best Start in Life childcare campaign. The department said spending covered fees paid to individuals and agencies, as well as production costs.
HMRC has worked with 44 different influencers, with some taking part in multiple campaigns. In response to parliamentary questions, ministers said the tax agency used influencers to help reach the public with accessible information through “authentic and trusted voices”, countering misleading tax guidance on social media. Meanwhile, the Department for Work and Pensions, which has spent more than £200,000 on influencers since July 2024, said content included helping people switch to Universal Credit and sharing advice on how to access career support. While the figures cover Labour’s time in office under Sir Keir Starmer, his successor Andy Burnham has continued to use influencers to get the government’s message out.
On his first day as prime minister, Burnham was already posting videos on TikTok of him running with Sir Mo Farah and appearing on influencer Max Klymenko’s “career ladder” podcast. Prof Andrew Chadwick, an expert in political communication at Loughborough University, said working with influencers “chimes with the change of direction since Burnham took over”, with the PM using his following on TikTok and Instagram to engage directly with the public. He argued using influencers could be an effective way of telling the public about things like how to file their taxes, or counter health misinformation on social media. Governments have traditionally paid for advertising through newspapers, TV, radio and social media.
But Prof Chadwick says paying content creators is increasingly used on top of this. At a time when more people – especially younger age groups – are switching off from traditional media, he said influencers could act as a trusted source of information. “It’s taken a while to get to this stage, but I’m surprised in a sense at how little has been spent by these departments,” he added. However, Prof Chadwick said there were also risks, as the government had less control over what posts could appear alongside, which could damage credibility.
He added that it was difficult to predict what the public response would be to a collaboration. “The comments are there, they’re underneath the post, and you’ll get these kind of backlash moments,” he said. “That undermines the purpose of the original campaign.” Earlier this year, the Department for Education faced criticism over its collaboration with reality TV star Gemma Collins to promote post-16 education. The department said Collins was not paid for the content.
Defending the campaign, then-education secretary Bridget Phillipson said Collins could reach people politicians could not, suggesting some of the criticism was driven by “snobbery”. Government guidelines for influencer marketing have existed since 2023. Under the government’s influencer due diligence policy, external, departments must consider the size and demographics of an influencer’s following, as well as whether they have previously posted about political issues which could undermine the effectiveness of a campaign. Spending by government departments on social media influencers since July 2024: Department for Education: £718,971 (from 2024/25 to July 2026) Department for Work and Pensions: £212,425 Department for Energy Security and Net Zero: £176,100 Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: £114,831.95 Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade: £39,700 Departments including the Treasury and the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs said they did not spend any money on social media influencers during the period.
Some departments, such as the Home Office and Foreign Office, said they did not hold information on payments to influencers centrally.
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