What were the most viewed videos of the 2024 general election campaign posted by news publishers on Tiktok? Here Press Gazette lists some of the most watched Tiktok videos relating to the 2024 UK general election campaign published by leading news publishers.
(Note this story was updated on 17 July to reflect new information shared by publishers.)
1) Rishi Sunak: What’s your Nando’s order?
This video posted by Mirror Politics was just 11 seconds long and revealed the former Prime Minister’s go-to Nando’s order. It tops our list with 6.1m views.
@mirrorpolitics medium. what a wet wipe
♬ original sound – Mirror Politics
2) Bearded Boris rails against Keir Starmer
The Daily Mail was in the lead with 5.3 million views on one TikTok. The 40-second video, with the caption “Boris Johnson records himself dissuading people from voting for Starmer as it will lead to reintegration with EU”, features a bearded Johnson urging viewers against voting Labour. The Daily Mail has invested heavily in Tiktok and now has more than nine million followers for its main account.
@dailymailuk Boris Johnson issues stark warning over Keir Starmer saying if he ‘really wins this election he will take us back into the Customs Union and the Single Market.’ Read his column in the Daily Mail. #borisjohnson #keirstarmer #dailymail ♬ original sound – Daily Mail UK
2) Larry the Downing Street cat
A short video about Larry the Downing Street cat from Sky News achieved 5.3m views and is in joint second place in our ranking.
@skynews ♬ original sound – Sky News
4) Sky News predicts 212-seat majority for Labour
Sky News drew 3.7m views with a video on the eve of the election based on polling which predicted a 212-seat majority for Labour. Keir Starmer in fact achieved a majority of 172 seats.
@skynews #Labour are on course for a landslide victory on Thursday with a majority of 212 seats according to the final YouGov #poll projection of the #GeneralElection2024 campaign #fyp ♬ original sound – Sky News
5) ITV News interview with candidate who polled fewer votes than Count Binface
ITV News achieved 3.6 million views for its video “Niko on why he’s running as an MP”. The 3 minutes and 19 seconds video showcased Youtuber Niko Omilana’s interview with ITV digital video producer Daniel Ajose. In the interview, Omilana outlined his reasons for running for election and said that he took Rishi Sunak’s claims to bring back national service personally. Video views did not turn into electoral success for Omilana, who recorded 160 votes — around half the total achieved by comedy candidate Count Binface.
@itvnews YouTuber @NDL Ringside speaks to @Dan Ajose in his first media interview of the 2024 General Election #politics #niko #itvnews ♬ original sound – itvnews
6) Candidate holds up ‘L’ sign behind Rishi Sunak
A Sky News video featuring Niko Omilana holding up an L sign behind Rishi Sunak as the results for his constituency poll were announced received 3.2m views on the platform.
@skynews Niko, who is known for his pranks online, stood behind the Tory leader after Mr Sunak won his seat in Richmond and Northallerton. The prankster, whose full name is Niko Omilana, stood as an independent candidate in the constituency, winning 160 votes.
♬ original sound – Sky News
7) Yahoo UK: Woman pulling faces
Yahoo UK got 2.7 million views for a video titled, “Woman spotted pulling faces behind Rishi Sunak during election speech”. Posted on 30 May, the 36-second video focused on a woman in the background who appeared to roll her eyes as Sunak spoke.
@yahoouk A woman reacting to a Rishi Sunak election speech has gone viral this week. Eagled-eyed viewers watching the campaign in Devon spotted her in the background, reacting to the Prime Minister’s claim that throughout the pandemic and the war in Ukraine ‘I had your back’. During his whistlestop tour across Cornwall and Devon, the Prime Minister also clambered into the seat of a Jackal 3, the latest in a range of armoured vehicles, had a pint of lemonade in a county pub, and spliced a fibre optic broadband cable. #Election #election2024 #RishiSunak #tory #conservative #conservatives #devon #ukelection #ukelection2024 #uknews #ukpolitics ♬ original sound – Yahoo UK
8) Sunak and Starmer asked about young home ownership
BBC News garnered 2.5 million views for a video titled “Sunak and Starmer asked about young home ownership”, which featured a snippet from the ITV leaders debate when Sunak and Starmer were asked about young people being priced out of the property market. Sunak highlighted what the government had done in building homes, but said his approach would help young people save. Starmer responded by saying that Labour has a clear plan to deliver homes and services such as schools around homes.
@bbcnews The Labour and Conservative leaders are asked about young people being priced out of the property market. You can hear from the other political parties on Friday, when leading figures from seven parties debate on the BBC from 19:30. #RishiSunak #KeirStarmer #ElectionDebate #GeneralElection #UKElection #Election #Election2024 #News #UKPolitics #BBCNews ♬ original sound – BBC News
9) Sky News: Rishi Sunak heckled by GP
Sky News got 2.2m views for a Tiktok video titled BREAKING NEWS: PM Rishi Sunak heckled by GP who challenges him on the NHS” which was posted on 7 June. In a rare unscripted campaign moment Sunak was interrupted by a heckler offscreen while giving a speech to Conservative supporters.
@skynews A woman saying she is a GP has heckled #primeminister #RishiSunak at a campaign event in Wiltshire #generalelection ♬ original sound – Sky News
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