So. After another by election defeat for @reformparty_uk last night, let's have a look at the data I found over the last month on Twitter/X.
This runs much longer than I thought it might so: TL;DR - Reform have a hugely disproportionate social media coverage, relative to their tiny size.
In no particular order:
Reform dominate social media in relation to their MP quota in the House. Over one month, they amassed over 900 posts across the selected media outlets. They have five MPs. The Tories have 121 and the Lib Dems have 72.
As you would expect, @UKLabour and Starmer have the lion's share of the media posts. They are the government of the day, so you'd expect that.
Caveating the point above; the @GBNEWS coverage of Labour was ≈ 95% negative of both the party and its leaders. There is very little objective reporting going on at that outlet. Similarly, for the @Telegraph, although I'd estimate that only ≈ 80% was negative there.
Almost half of the total posts about Labour and Starmer emanate from GB News; see point above. They are obsessed with talking down the government and it's cabinet.
The @Conservatives are covered much more heavily by @BBCNews and GB News than other outlets, with the BBC mentioning them as much as Labour, despite their meagre 121 MPs. Perhaps a nod to their current board make-up.
The poor old @LibDems are the real losers in the social media battles, it seems. With their strong showing of 72 MPs, they were only mentioned 46 times in one month across these outlets. Compare that to Reform's 952 and you can start to see the trend.
@thetimes, @TalkTV and The Telegraph didn't even mention the Lib Dems, or their leaders, once over that period. I find that quite shocking. @LBC posted about them three times in comparison to Reform - 82 times.
The @TheGreenParty have had a torrid time and only managed 6 mentions over the month. Considering they have one fewer MPs than Reform, this feels pretty unreasonable; 946 fewer mentions. They need better social media comms.
So, lastly, on to Reform; the behemoths of social media relative to their tiny party size.
As you would expect, GB News pumps out their party lines without any restrictions. They posted about Reform or their leaders 572 times - that's about 19 times every day. Every other outlet, put together, only posted about Reform 438 times.
Talk TV follow GB News with 130 Reform posts and in third it's LBC with 82 mentions. Don't forget that Talk TV employs Isabel Oakeshott, the partner of Reform's current deputy.
For comparison, the Tories were mentioned by those three: GB NEWS - 267 | Talk TV - 57 | LBC - 84. The Conservatives are the party of opposition. Remember, Reform have five MPs. An even starker comparison is the Lib Dems, the third-largest party [Reform are 8th]: GB News - 11 | Talk TV - 0 | LBC - 3.
In conclusion - it's no wonder that Reform keep coming close to, or at, the top of recent polling data. Their media coverage is vastly outsized compared to their representative party. They are the masters of propaganda and populism - noise without any real substance. The Steve Bannon playbook of 'flooding the zone with shit'.
It may behove @Ofcom or @DCMS | @lisanandy to have a look at what they seem to consider a 'news outlet' - GB News. There is little, to no, objective reporting throughout their entire social media presence.
This is long, sorry, but I thought it a worthwhile exercise.
This runs much longer than I thought it might so: TL;DR - Reform have a hugely disproportionate social media coverage, relative to their tiny size.
In no particular order:
Reform dominate social media in relation to their MP quota in the House. Over one month, they amassed over 900 posts across the selected media outlets. They have five MPs. The Tories have 121 and the Lib Dems have 72.
As you would expect, @UKLabour and Starmer have the lion's share of the media posts. They are the government of the day, so you'd expect that.
Caveating the point above; the @GBNEWS coverage of Labour was ≈ 95% negative of both the party and its leaders. There is very little objective reporting going on at that outlet. Similarly, for the @Telegraph, although I'd estimate that only ≈ 80% was negative there.
Almost half of the total posts about Labour and Starmer emanate from GB News; see point above. They are obsessed with talking down the government and it's cabinet.
The @Conservatives are covered much more heavily by @BBCNews and GB News than other outlets, with the BBC mentioning them as much as Labour, despite their meagre 121 MPs. Perhaps a nod to their current board make-up.
The poor old @LibDems are the real losers in the social media battles, it seems. With their strong showing of 72 MPs, they were only mentioned 46 times in one month across these outlets. Compare that to Reform's 952 and you can start to see the trend.
@thetimes, @TalkTV and The Telegraph didn't even mention the Lib Dems, or their leaders, once over that period. I find that quite shocking. @LBC posted about them three times in comparison to Reform - 82 times.
The @TheGreenParty have had a torrid time and only managed 6 mentions over the month. Considering they have one fewer MPs than Reform, this feels pretty unreasonable; 946 fewer mentions. They need better social media comms.
So, lastly, on to Reform; the behemoths of social media relative to their tiny party size.
As you would expect, GB News pumps out their party lines without any restrictions. They posted about Reform or their leaders 572 times - that's about 19 times every day. Every other outlet, put together, only posted about Reform 438 times.
Talk TV follow GB News with 130 Reform posts and in third it's LBC with 82 mentions. Don't forget that Talk TV employs Isabel Oakeshott, the partner of Reform's current deputy.
For comparison, the Tories were mentioned by those three: GB NEWS - 267 | Talk TV - 57 | LBC - 84. The Conservatives are the party of opposition. Remember, Reform have five MPs. An even starker comparison is the Lib Dems, the third-largest party [Reform are 8th]: GB News - 11 | Talk TV - 0 | LBC - 3.
In conclusion - it's no wonder that Reform keep coming close to, or at, the top of recent polling data. Their media coverage is vastly outsized compared to their representative party. They are the masters of propaganda and populism - noise without any real substance. The Steve Bannon playbook of 'flooding the zone with shit'.
It may behove @Ofcom or @DCMS | @lisanandy to have a look at what they seem to consider a 'news outlet' - GB News. There is little, to no, objective reporting throughout their entire social media presence.
This is long, sorry, but I thought it a worthwhile exercise.
@reformparty_uk I meant to tag you into this @reformexposed - seems like something you may be interested in.
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
