In his first TikTok post, the Prime Minister and his wife, Victoria, walk down the corridor and out through the No10 door as flashing cameras start taking snaps of them
Keir Starmer’s Christmas video as lights lit on Downing Street tree
Keir Starmer has launched a TikTok account with a festive video holding hands with his wife in Downing Street.
In his first post, published this morning, the Prime Minister and his wife, Victoria, walk down the corridor and through the No10 door as flashing cameras start taking snaps of them.
The Love Actually-style clip then cuts to the front of Downing Street where Mr and Mrs Starmer stand outside the iconic black door at a ceremony for the Christmas tree lights switch-on.
The lights on the huge tree were turned on by 14-year-old litter picker Samuel Salamone, who eagerly pressed a big red button to turn them on.
In a message to social media users, Mr Starmer says: “TikTok, follow me.”
READ MORE: TikTok job cuts should be probed by MPs as alarm raised over online safety
For his second post, Mr Starmer shared a TikTok of him and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky embracing on the steps of Downing Street. The clip starts with a behind-the-scenes shot of Mr Zelensky as photographers capture him walking to the No10 door.
Mr Starmer, who has around 5,000 followers at the time of writing, has opened an account to “reach that wider audience”, No10 said. TikTok has more than 30 million regular users in the UK.
Other ministers who have TikTok accounts include Energy Secretary Ed Miliband and Health Secretary Wes Streeting, who posted his first video in October.
Nigel Farage has the most TikTok followers out of all the MPs, with 1.4 million people following him. In May, he had more followers on the platform than the more than 600 other MPs combined.
The move from Mr Starmer is a sign of the Government’s increasing efforts to digitise its communications strategy. The PM and Rachel Reeves are among ministers to have taken questions from influencers as well as traditional reporters in recent months.
Mr Starmer joins other world leaders including US president Donald Trump, France’s Emmanuel Macron and Australian premier Anthony Albanese on TikTok.
The PM’s official spokesman said: “We are intent on reaching audiences where they are and communication is changing and people have a right to know about the decisions the Government is taking that affect them and why and how that is. TikTok is simply another way to do that and reach that wider audience.”
Downing Street said “security mitigations” were in place to operate the Prime Minister’s account, as with an existing UK Government profile on the social media site.
TikTok was banned from government-issued devices in 2023 in response to concerns about its Chinese parent company ByteDance.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “Restrictions on the use of the app on most government devices remain in place and there’s no changes to our security policy when it comes to TikTok. Security mitigations are in place, as with the existing UKgov account.”