How a ‘patriotic’ English rapper with millions of views is actually an AI creation designed to infiltrate British politics by the far right

Proudly clad in a union flag, working-class rapper Danny Bones is captivating millions with his outspoken views on mass immigration and Britain’s decline.

In his most popular track, This Is England, he leads crowds carrying St George’s crosses through burning streets amid a dystopian imagination of the United Kingdom.

As police cars turn into blackened husks, Bones sings in chorus: ‘This is England – don’t ask why’, describing a country he claims has ‘fallen’ and where the ‘b’ is.‘The benefits are widespread, but the limits are clear.’

But for all the genuine political concerns about immigration, national identity and a fractured Britain he shares with his devoted followers, Bones himself is absent.

The sharp-jawed, deep-toned rapper is actually an AI-generated persona created by an anonymous influencer ‘collective’ called The Node Project as a campaign tool for far-right party Advance UK.

Democracy advocates believe this is the first time a registered party in the UK has used AI to promote its policies; Others worry that Bones may be just the beginning of a new trend of using technology tools to influence voters.

An investigation by The Daily Mail and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism has revealed that Advance UK commissioned and paid The Node Project to create numerous videos referencing immigrants, Muslims and ethnic minorities.

Danny Bones’ tracks and clips have been viewed millions of times on Spotify, YouTube, TikTok and Instagram.

The sharp-jawed, deep-toned rapper is an AI-generated persona created by The Node Project as a campaign tool for far-right party Advance UK.

The content includes the party’s main campaign film used during the recent by-elections in Gorton and Denton in Greater Manchester.

Advance UK was founded last year by Ben Habib, the former co-leader of Reform UK, and positions itself to the right of Nigel Farage’s party.

In the run-up to the by-election, the party released a two-minute video that has been viewed hundreds of thousands of times on its social media channels and, until recently, was considered a flagship on its website.

The film highlights dramatic scenes from British history – Anglo-Saxon warriors, Second World War soldiers and the Beatles crossing Abbey Road – and is accompanied by a dramatic narrative celebrating the country’s heritage and opposing racism. Instrumental version of the song Danny Bones.

Both Advance UK and Node Project confirmed that the party paid for the production.

The Node Project also developed another AI personality, a purple-haired character named Amelia, who has appeared in various Danny Bones videos and standalone clips.

The character was first created by political and media literacy organization Shout Out UK for a Home Office-funded video game designed to deter extremism among young people.

However, the character was later adopted by online far-right communities and has been featured alongside Danny Bones’ content ever since.

Experts warn that this type of AI-generated political content could become increasingly common as tools for creating music, video and synthetic sounds become easier to use.

Matteo Bergamini, founder of Shout Out UK, told the Daily Mail that figures such as Amelia and Danny Bones represent a growing phenomenon of AI characters being used to promote political messages.

‘The fact that this thing can be mass-generated and pushed to really shape any narrative – whether it’s political, social, health-related… what we’re potentially seeing is the collapse of the information ecosystem if this is allowed to continue.’

Little is publicly known about the group behind Danny Bones.

The Node Project does not appear to be registered as a company, and its website lists its address as a penis museum in Reykjavik; this is a reference sometimes used by anonymous online users.

When contacted, the group described itself as a ‘small group of creatives’ experimenting with AI storytelling and ‘completely’ denied claims that the material was Islamophobic.

The statement said: ‘Node Project is a creative project based on fictional characters, music, visual storytelling and world-building.

‘Danny Bones is a fictional concept character in this creative world. Amelia is also a recurring fictional character within the larger work.

‘The aims of the project are artistic and cultural. This idea has its roots in creative independence, the tradition of countercultural art, and the idea that art should challenge conventions rather than conform to them.

The Node Project also developed another AI personality; A purple-haired character named Amelia who has been adopted by far-right online communities and appears in Bones’ videos.

‘This is not a political party tool or campaign operation.

We completely reject the characterization of ‘The Node Project’ or its content as ‘Islamophobic’. This is a very serious label and is not an accurate or fair description of its output.’

Since being presented with the investigation, TikTok has banned Node Project’s account for violating its rules regarding hateful content. While Instagram removed several posts, Spotify said the tracks did not violate its policies.

The UK Electoral Commission has confirmed it expects campaigners to clarify when political content has been created using AI but does not directly regulate such material.