Jeremy Corbyn overtakes British Prime Minister to be most talked about on Twitter

Jeremy Corbyn overtook Theresa May as the most talked-about politician on Twitter this week, following the leak of the Labour manifesto.

Analysis of Twitter data by the Press Association showed the Labour leader’s share of the conversation jumped from 35% the week before to 42% between May 8 and 15 – a period in which he drew large crowds for speeches in the north of England.

Mrs May was second with 34%, in an almost straight swap on the week before. Labour also beat the Tories in mentions, with a 47% share of tweets about the top five political parties, compared with the Conservatives’ 32%.

 

In terms of issues, the number of tweets about health surged as the NHS fell victim to a global cyber attack.

Of tweets containing terms relating to 13 top election topics, health held a 21% share of the conversation, up from 11% the previous week.

Brexit was the most tweeted about issue with a 27% share, but its share of conversation fell dramatically on the previous seven days, when it was mentioned in more than half of tweets relating to campaign issues. That was the week details of a dinner between European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker and Mrs May were leaked to the media.

Despite being key issues for several of the major parties, immigration and housing were far down the list in terms of Twitter chatter, with both only claiming around a 2% share of mentions.

When it came to conversation about the parties, the SNP was also bumped from third to fourth place last week by the Liberal Democrats.

But despite his party’s climb in mentions, leader Tim Farron was still only the eighth most mentioned politician, behind Mr Juncker, who claimed sixth place.

Top political parties

Party, share of voice %

1. Labour Party, 47

2. Conservative Party, 32

3. Liberal Democrats, 11

4. Scottish National Party, 5

5. Ukip, 4

Top politicians

Politician, share of voice %

1. Jeremy Corbyn, 42

2. Theresa May, 34

3. Nicola Sturgeon, 4

4. Nigel Farage, 4

5. Jeremy Hunt, 4

6. Jean-Claude Juncker, 3

7. Emily Thornberry, 3

8. Tim Farron, 3

9. Amber Rudd, 2

10. Angela Rayner, 2

Top issues

Issue, share of voice %

1. Brexit, 27.4

2. Health, 21.3

3. Economy, 14.8

4. Education, 14.7

5. Tax, 5.0

6. Security and crime, 4.0

7. Pensions, 3.0

8. Immigration and asylum, 2.3

9. Family life and childcare, 2.2

10. Environment, 2.0

11. Housing, 1.8

12. Transport, 1.3

13. Welfare benefits, 0.4