Government Influencer Spending Tops £2.4m: What the New Figures Show

Government departments have spent at least £2.4 million working with social media influencers since July 2024. Ministers gave the figure in answers to parliamentary questions, the written questions MPs can table, submitted by the Conservatives. The answers were first reported by the Politics At Sam And Anne's podcast and detailed by BBC News on 16 September 2026.

The Department for Education reported the highest spend of any department that gave a figure. It said it spent more than £700,000. HM Revenue and Customs said it spent nearly £600,000, excluding agency fees. The Department for Work and Pensions said it spent more than £200,000 since July 2024. The £2.4 million total is partial. It covers only departments that provided figures.

The same departments account for most engagements. In 2025/26, the Department for Education said it paid 57 influencers to work on campaigns. HMRC said it worked with 44 different influencers on campaigns. The returns named Oti Mabuse and Billie Shepherd as backers of the government's Best Start in Life childcare campaign.

Earlier disclosures add scale and trend. The Guardian reported 215 influencers had been hired since 2024, with 126 hired in 2025 compared with 89 in 2024. Separately, the Office for National Statistics put its own spend at £51,551.00 including VAT between 1 July 2024 and 7 October 2025 (ONS).

Paid partnerships predate the current administration. Under Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, the Home Office paid TikTok influencers to discourage small-boat crossings of the English Channel.

The broader context here is what officials and scrutineers must untangle next. HMRC excludes agency fees while ONS includes VAT, so the headline total mixes different counting methods and comparisons between departments need care. The rise from 89 to 126 engagements, concentrated in Education, HMRC and Work and Pensions, suggests creator commissions are now routine delivery in busy, public-facing departments. For private offices and communications directors, that leaves questions about how briefs are set, how audiences are targeted, and how value is judged against other paid channels. Written questions have built a department-by-department picture that invites follow-up, but departments define an influencer differently and contracts route fees, production and agency costs differently. Those definitions will shape the next answers and trust in the figures so far.