What Andy Burnham’s win says about the power of TikTok

The former Manchester Mayor won by a margin of 9,000 votes, securing 55% of the vote share. There’s no doubt TikTok played a huge role in his win. Burnham set up his account a month ago to coincide with his announcement that he would be running as a candidate. Since then, he has posted 100 videos which have gained over 4 million views delivering his political message to an audience much broader than the 100,000 Makerfield constituents.

Interestingly, both Reform and Restore’s candidates, who secured second and third place with 35% and 7% of the vote share, respectively, did not have personal TikToks. Rather, they were platformed by their official party accounts.

Burnham and his team realise that TikTok is crucial for connecting with Labour Party members during the inevitable next step of a Labour leadership contest, and that if he is to fulfil his destiny and replace Keir Starmer as PM, then TikTok is non-negotiable. 27 million UK users spend an average of 50 hours a month on it. Therefore there’s no better place to find a captive audience to communicate your message and vision. Arguably, Keir Starmer launched his account too late with the launch of his personal TikTok in December 2025.

Burnham modelled his account on that of New York mayor Zohran Mamdani, who has over 3.5 million followers on the platform. Mamdani’s campaign showed that TikTok could serve as a primary electoral tool, not just a supplementary one, much like how Burnham used the app. They both campaigned on bread-and-butter issues whilst using TikTok to do something traditional media never quite allowed - showing who they actually are.

Importantly, this was not a Labour campaign, but one of an individual whose profile transcends that of his party. The official Labour Party TikTok account did not promote Burnham at any point during the Makerfield by-election. This election was Burnham’s own digital race.

This week, the consultancy where I’m a Partner, Knox Digital, launched The Knox Index, which tracks over 300 UK politicians on TikTok, providing real-time and historical insights into performance metrics to identify the most effective MPs and content on the platform. Its purpose is to inform about what is going viral and why, help distinguish among the types of content, from policy announcements to political attacks, and identify emerging themes. Our goal is to provide a digital X-ray of the new attention economy ahead of the headline.

In Makerfield, our findings tell us that there was a fragmentation on the right. Nigel Farage’s Reform is losing attention to Rupert Lowe’s Restore on TikTok at an increasing rate. This was evidenced by the fact that, since the Makerfield by-election was called, engagement with Restore’s content increased by nearly 50%.

So whilst the King of the North was victorious in Makerfield, Reform maintain a big advantage on TikTok with a post from a Reform representative receiving 12 times more views than an equivalent post from a Labour party representative. What’s more, Nigel Farage still holds the crown of the most effective MP on TikTok.

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Laura Wright is Partner at Knox Digital and formerly was a Special Adviser at DSIT, and Bloomberg journalist.

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