Keir Starmer’s Whitehall communications chief will address the cabinet on overhauling the government’s media strategy on Tuesday as ministers increasingly try to combat far-right rhetoric online.
David Dinsmore, a former editor of the Sun who was appointed permanent secretary for government communications in November, will speak to ministers about modernising the way they reach voters.
The government is concerned about the proliferation of false and inflammatory far-right content on social media and is stepping up efforts to communicate on those platforms.
A New Media Unit (NMU) was set up inside the Cabinet Office by Starmer’s aides soon after Labour came to power to coordinate those efforts.
The work is led on the ministerial side by Darren Jones, who was tasked by Starmer on his appointment as chief secretary to the prime minister in September to develop and modernise the government’s communications.
Jones has asked officials to send him a weekly summary of the five news stories that reach the most users every week on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and X.
One source said that in between stories about Taylor Swift and football, far-right political content appeared in the top-five newslist “most weeks”.
Ministers are examining a number of changes aimed at reaching people who are not served by traditional media outlets and raising awareness of public services and entitlements.
One government source said the ambition was “to scale up digital capabilities of the government with the recognition that that involves more in-house capacity”.
Starmer joined TikTok last week and shared a video of himself and his wife, Victoria, turning on the Downing Street Christmas lights.
Meanwhile, the NMU has involved social media influencers in covering the work of government, by giving content creators regular access to press conferences and ministerial visits and trips.
Overhauling the way the government communicates is likely to require changes to the government communications service (GCS), which is based in the Cabinet Office.
One thing that has raised eyebrows among ministers is the fact that the GCS employs about 7,000 officials. Jones told a fundraising event for Labour MPs in October that he had “no idea what they do”, Politico reported.
Dinsmore was recruited after Starmer was said to have been impressed with his understanding of modern communication challenges during the interview process. He joined the government from the Sun’s parent company News UK and is a senior civil servant, not a political appointee. His permanent secretary for communications role is new and was created after Starmer voiced concerns about government communications last year.
The Guardian reported last week that YouTube channels spreading fake, anti-Labour videos had amassed 5.3 million subscribers and almost 1.2bn views this year. A study by Reset Tech detected more than 150 channels that promote anti-Labour narratives and fake and inflammatory accusations about Starmer.
One channel called Britain News-night talked about Starmer and the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, facing arrest. Another, TheUKPoliticalBrief, touted videos on the “explosive truth” about immigrant crime and marches on Westminster.
Labour is also spending more on digital campaigning. Starmer emailed the parliamentary Labour party last month announcing a “significant investment” from the party in a “new comprehensive training programme” for MPs.
