One in three voters saw deepfakes of politicians ahead of local elections, poll shows
A leading think tank has warned that Britain faces a “democratic emergency” weeks before a crucial by-election after new polls revealed that around 16.5 million UK adults saw political deepfakes in the month before local elections.
Shocking new survey finds almost a third (30 per cent) of voters said they had seen a deepfake or AI-generated video, audio clip or image about an election candidate or politician online before last month’s election.
It was conducted by Opinium for cross-party think tank Demos between 30 April and 6 May 2026, just ahead of local and devolved elections across the UK.
The warning comes just two weeks before voters head to the polls in Makerfield for a crucial contest that could decide who becomes Britain’s next prime minister if Andy Burnham wins the seat and decides to challenge Sir Keir Starmer.
Deepfakes are digitally created and altered content, usually in the form of fake images, videos and audio recordings.
Nearly one in six (16 percent) said they had encountered a political deepfake more than five times during this period; This shows that a significant minority of users have very high levels of exposure to this content.
The survey showed that when it comes to politicians in the UK, Labor and Reform leaders are most often reported as “deepfakes”; This is important for the upcoming Makerfield by-election as the race is expected to be a close battle for the two parties.
The findings emerged as the Electoral Commission launched a new deepfake detection pilot aimed at improving identification and mapping the scale of the problem. However, the findings from the pilot application are not expected for at least another six months.
Demos has now called on the government to “move faster to establish clear rules and accountability” against deepfakes and called on ministers to “use the Representation of the People Bill – currently under way – to deliver meaningful protections for the public ahead of the next general election.”
The think tank has previously proposed amendments to the Representation of the People Bill to address AI-generated election misinformation, including clearer legal responsibilities for platforms and developers; but these suggestions were not accepted by the government.
Chi Onwurah, chairman of the Science, Innovation and Technology Committee, agreed that “stronger measures are needed to protect voters from online misinformation.”
he said Independent: “The increasing number of reports of political deepfakes ahead of the election is extremely worrying and it is clear that stronger measures are needed to protect voters from online misinformation.
“My committee has repeatedly raised the risks posed by AI-generated deepfakes at major technology companies, and we are not satisfied with their response. It is clear that the protections are not working as intended.”
“Deepfakes can cause untold harm to individual lives and the integrity of our democratic systems, eroding trust in the electoral process. At a time when hostile actors like the Kremlin are actively working to undermine our democracy, complacency is not an option.”
Demos’ research also found that 39 percent of survey respondents were unsure whether they had seen a deepfake; The think tank argued that this showed “the public’s lack of confidence in discerning truth in the visual content they see online about elections.”
The survey also found that the majority of the public (43 percent) were unsure if they would be able to detect a deepfake online, rather than being confident (38 percent).
The most frequently detected person in political deepfakes was Donald Trump; 45 per cent of people said they had seen a corresponding deepfake: Keir Starmer (36 per cent) and Nigel Farage (27 per cent). Meanwhile, a smaller minority reported seeing deepfakes of Zack Polanski (10 percent) and Kemi Badenoch (8 percent).
The survey suggested that much of the content was clearly damaging to the profiles of those represented. Among respondents who saw a political deepfake, 6 in 10 (56 percent) said the content portrayed the issue in a negative light; 28 percent described the content as “very negative.”
The survey also found significant public concern about the impact of AI misinformation on democracy; While 42 percent said they were concerned about fake videos or deepfakes of candidates and MPs affecting the local and devolved elections on May 7, only 23 percent said they were not worried.
Azzurra Moores, Deputy Director of Information Ecosystems at Demos, said: Independent: “Political deepfakes are no longer a threat to the future; they are already filling people’s social media feeds.
“Our surveys show that millions of people now encounter AI-generated political content online, often repeatedly and often in a negative context. At the same time, many voters are unsure how to discern truth from the content they see.”
“The combination of widespread exposure and low public confidence in detecting deepfakes creates serious risks to confidence in democratic debate and paves the way for a democratic emergency in the UK.
“Generative AI appears to be evolving faster than our democratic safeguards. The UK cannot afford to go into the next general election without stronger safeguards.
“The evidence of harm is mounting and the opportunity to act is narrowing. The government now has a clear chance to protect both the public and our democracy before this threat becomes a full-blown crisis. This must not be wasted.”
A government spokesman said: “Deepfakes can sow division and manipulate public opinion, posing a growing threat to public trust and we are taking action.
“Under the Online Safety Act, social media platforms are required to take measures to combat illegal content, including fraud by false pretenses, or face enforcement.
“We know the threat is evolving rapidly, so we are creating teams of experts to monitor risks and respond to online misinformation in real time during election periods.”
The survey of 2,005 adults was conducted by Opinium on behalf of Demos between April 30 and May 6, 2026.
