# Why ministers paid £2m to influencers

An episode of [Politics At Sam and Anne's](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1709628885), 16 Sep 2026, 21 min.

Audio: https://episodes.captivate.fm/episode/5f31c97b-ac09-411f-a862-ecaa28e327d3.mp3?aw_0_1st.showid=e0c28668-b961-43cf-8d6c-6ba62ef8a7a3&aw_0_1st.episodeid=5f31c97b-ac09-411f-a862-ecaa28e327d3

Sam Coates and Anne McElvoy look at how political communication has changed – from Keir Starmer’s government paying influencers to promote its message, to Andy Burnham putting himself front and centre of the social media operation. Sam has a scoop on how much it all costs. Elsewhere, former No10 chief of staff – Morgan McSweeney – has been speaking about his time in No10 and how he tried to launch a thinktank in Downing Street to develop policy. Plus, with energy bills forecasted to rocked up near £450 in January, how worried are the government and what can they do to help families?

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