What Shrek tells us about how the Conservatives and Labor are using TikTok | British news

The first surprising thing about the TikTok According to Conservative and Labor statements, neither is more than a week old.

Yes, even Paul Chuckle has been using TikTok for longer than Britain's two biggest political parties.

Despite the massive influence the social network has on the country's youth, both decided to wait until the general elections were called last week before settling on the platform.

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The second surprising thing is the sheer number of messages you see on one compared to the other.

If you take a look at the The Tories account just now you'll find a total of four posts: three videos totaling less than two and a half minutes of content, and a slideshow with a 'threat overview' of Labour's shadow cabinet.

In the latest post, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak appears in the same gray void from the party's first TikTok post and answers a user's policy question. More about that later.

It's quite formal, a bit austere, but it certainly conveys a clear message. But is that what TikTok users want?

Let's turn to the Labor billwhich has a whopping 28 videos so far – an average of around nine per day.

You might be surprised to see the two people featured in the party's two most popular videos to date, both of which have over 2,100,000 views.

One is Lord Farquaad from the 2001 film Shrek, and the other is the late Cilla Black.

If you're not a TikTok user, that might be a little baffling. But when you know, you know: that's definitely the kind of banter Gen Z loves.

Yes, there are clips of Keir Starmer. But there are also clips of Louie Spence and Harry Potter and Barry from EastEnders singing Something Inside So Strong. It's semi-ironic, it's camp and it's actually quite funny.

Interestingly, both Labor and the Conservatives are currently focusing their TikTok energy on a single policy: the proposed one reintroduction of National Service.

They know their audience – the platform's users are obviously young, so they are more likely to be directly influenced by the idea.

The Tories are doing their best to gently convince TikTokers that it would give them 'valuable life skills'. Rishi Sunak used the latest video to reveal that teenagers would receive a grant to help with living costs if they complete their service.

In the meantime, Labor has found a good opportunity to get the idea out of the closet. And for now it seems to have been more successful.

Thanks in no small part to Farquaad and Cilla, the opposition has amassed more than 53,000 TikTok followers and 1.1 million likes.

In contrast, the party in power has fewer than 15,000 followers and only 97,100 likes on its videos.

But let's not forget that the typical TikToker belongs to a demographic that isn't exactly likely to vote. So whether that online popularity doesn't necessarily translate into electoral success on the Fourth of July.

And while you're here, don't forget to follow Metro's Okay, Governor? on TikTok for more political chats that really matter to you.

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