Executing a Personal PoliticalBranding Campaign from Within Government: The Case of the UK Finance Minister Rishi Sunak and Social Media (2020–2022)

Social media is increasingly used by mainstream politicians to fashion their public image while campaigning and governing. As the UK’s finance minister from 2020 to 2022, and Prime Minister until 2024, Rishi Sunak was the first governing politician to employ an in-house brand consultant to run a continuous social media branding campaign. A content analysis of all 412 Tweets issued from the department’s Twitter feed, @hmtreasury over a 10-month sample period identified 80 short films fronted by Sunak that showed a consistent overall branding scheme with 17 sub-brands. His contribution to the videos included appearances, speeches, informal visits, walkabouts, documentary footage, interviews, pieces to camera, and voiceovers. In October 2022, this carefully curated branded persona helped him to become the youngest and least experienced UK Prime Minister of modern times, with a recognition factor far higher than his two closest and more experienced rivals. Less than two years later, he led the Conservative party to its worst result in the party’s 190-year history. The Conservatives were almost certain to lose anyway but did Sunak’s branded persona undermine his credibility by simplifying, even contradicting, political realities? Can personal political branding from within government be considered as a form of disinformation?