Kemi Badenoch is copying Trump’s media strategy, but will it work?
Kemi Badenoch is planning to avoid traditional media in the UK, instead following Donald Trump’s 2024 election strategy of speaking to more ‘alternative’ outlets, such as right-wing podcasts, but will it have the same effect on this side of the Atlantic?
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In brief…
- Badenoch believes appearing on right-wing podcasts will appeal to more young voters in the UK, with even traditional Tory voters – the over 60s – deserting the party in the 2024 election.
- The News Agents say she might struggle to replicate Trump’s success, due to a lack of established right-wing podcasts in the UK, and the country’s steadfast notion of impartiality.
- They also say that, for someone who hates speaking to journalists, Badenoch is also unlikely to feel comfortable speaking for up to three hours in a lengthy discussion.
What’s the story?
It’s well known that Kemi Badenoch hates speaking with the press, which is why she’s planning a slightly different media strategy going forward as Tory leader.
Badenoch intends to skip over traditional media in the UK – tabloids, broadsheets, TV news – in favour of podcast appearances and chats with right-wing influencers. She has already spoken with a podcast called Triggernometry.
Inspired by Donald Trump – whose election campaign was boosted by appearances on US podcasts hosted by the likes of Joe Rogan and Logan Paul – Badenoch plans to use a similar strategy to up the approval of the former government, and her own standing as leader of the opposition.
Tory co-chairman Nigel Huddleston said in an email to members, marking 100 days of her leadership, that working with “non-traditional media outlets” is key to appealing to younger voters.
A YouGov poll in 2024 showed that Tory voters are most-likely to be 60+, but looking at the results of last year’s general election, many of those also opted not to vote blue.
A former Tory adviser has said Badenoch does not consider speaking to the press as an “integral part” of her job, and that this has become more of an issue since the Tories became the opposition, when it is more important to have your voice heard and make headlines.
Can this strategy work for Badenoch?
Courting podcasters such as Joe Rogan certainly paid off for Donald Trump when the US went to the polls in November 2024.
Right-wing podcasts hosted by Rogan, and the likes of Steve Bannon and Alex Jones, have some of the biggest audiences in the US, but the UK media landscape is very different.
"It's not like that here," says Lewis Goodall.
"I still think we're in a slightly more calm world in the UK, where the media sees itself as having to be impartial.
"In the US, it has always been much more partial."
He says the UK could be considered to have a "Wild West" of newspapers, with a number of big-selling, daily right-wing titles, while in the US, this can be found in broadcasters such as Fox News and NewsMax.
"I think the reason Badenoch's strategy won't work yet in Britain – in the way that Trump’s did during the election – is because in the US, legacy media, has almost lost its ability to dictate the conversation completely," Lewis adds.
Plus, Badenoch's new media strategy may appear an odd one for somebody who doesn't enjoy speaking to the press, even in brief.
"They're not half hour accountabilities, they're not 10 minutes on The Today Program – they're often three hour, long, rambling chats," says Emily Maitlis.
"Trump is really good at that stuff, because he can do that – quite frankly – on his own. He does it on the golf course. He does it in press conferences. He does it at rallies.
"He just can talk quite happily about complete shit quite often, whether it's sharks, windmills, electrocution or golfers' penises."
In case you were wondering about that last point, in October 2024 he referenced the genitals of late golfer Arnold Palmer during a rally in Pennsylvania. Palmer's daughter was less than impressed.
"My sense is, Kemi Badenoch would have to feel really comfortable with a host before she went on and said, 'oh, let's just shoot the breeze'," Emily adds.
"You have to be prepared for all kinds of things if you're going to sit there and do three hours."
What's The News Agents' take?
Lewis says both the Tories and Labour need to change their media strategy – Badenoch for doing so little, and Starmer for sticking to a very traditional press-conference approach to announcements, and struggling to hold attention with this "2000s-playbook" style.
"We are in an attention based political environment," he adds.
"The big battle is for attention. It is for eyeballs. It is for screens. It is for moments on phones. People are getting their news in that way, in a highly fragmented way."
Emily says no politicians ever need to do an interview again – they just need to get their message across on social media.
"She just doesn't want to do interviews," adds Jon Sopel.
"She hates the idea of sitting down with a journalist. It's her idea of absolute purgatory and hell, and I'm not sure, even if the podcast is a bit more sympathetic to her, whether she would enjoy that."