Ah, Gawain… ever the loyalist, ever the true believer in the Nigelite flame. I salute your service, your style, and your spark.
But when it comes to your eulogy for Reform’s handling of Rupert Lowe, a political Monty Python sketch masquerading as party discipline, you’ve tied a Union Jack ribbon around a bin fire and called it patriotic.
Let’s get something straight. Rupert Lowe is a force of nature. Not your average careerist backbencher polishing platitudes in a committee room, no, Sir. He’s the blunt instrument Westminster needs right now: principled, popular, and powered by conviction, not calculation. The reason he sometimes clashes with party management isn’t because he’s “not a team player”, it’s because the team has been infiltrated by people playing for themselves. Rupert plays for the people.
So if being a “team player” means swallowing the disgraceful, cowardly attempt to send a sitting MP to jail for words, mere words, then thank heavens Rupert refused to wear the Reform tie and smile for the cameras on that one. Zia’s decision to report him to the police was not just staggeringly authoritarian, it was politically suicidal.
Who in their right mind, which donor, which candidate, which seasoned political operator, would risk joining a party where stepping out of line means being shopped to the cops by your own side?
Let’s talk about Zia. Not since Brutus has there been such a back-stabber in a toga of principle. And while Nigel Farage, a titan, a man who has remade British politics more than once, deserves immense respect, even he must realise that he’s surrounded by certain individuals more interested in control than courage. Nigel has the charisma and firepower but he needs lieutenants with integrity, not internal hitmen with spreadsheets and Twitter vendettas.
Now to your claim, Gawain, that Rupert is sulking with a megaphone. That’s where your loyalty blinds you. Look again. Rupert’s not sulking, he’s surging. Each day brings new supporters to his corner. He’s not just liked, he’s respected. Admired. Not only on social media, but in the real world too. We operate 14 regional newspapers, none of them near Rupert’s constituency, yet his name keeps cropping up more and more. I saw it on the doorsteps across the country too, where people instinctively recognise the rarest quality in politics: authenticity.
And they’re starved of it. Voters are gagging on the stale, synthetic fumes of scripted populism… all soundbites and no soul. In contrast, Rupert’s raw conviction cuts through. This whole sorry saga? It hasn’t damaged him. It’s elevated him. Far from dimming Rupert’s star, Zia’s blunder has thrown a spotlight on it. And it’s only getting brighter.
And let’s not overlook the tectonic presence beside Rupert: Ben Habib. Cool-headed, razor-sharp, eloquent, and visionary. Ben, too, was sidelined by Reform’s backroom operators, yet rather than retreat from the political arena, Ben’s been building. Enter the Great British PAC: a serious operation, armed with legal firepower, a network of patriots across the country and genuine policy depth.
The very things Reform talks about? Ben’s already laying the foundations. A Great Repeal Programme? It’s in motion. Legal resistance to woke overreach? Already underway. Sound, actionable policies? Ben’s been offering them on the PAC’s Policy Platform and Reform’s been quietly running with them. From net zero rollbacks to pothole repair strategies, even patriotic flags on public buildings — all seeded by the PAC and handed, generously, to both Reform and the Tories.
Because for Ben, it’s country before party. Ben’s Great British PAC isn’t looking for credit… just impact. It’s a machine built to serve the national interest, not massage egos in Westminster.
And guess what? Even one of Reform’s own five MPs, James Murdoch, publicly backs Rupert and Ben. Tory heavyweights like Robert Jenrick and Suella Braverman have nothing but respect for them. These aren’t rebels without a cause – they’re the nucleus of something far bigger.
You mock Rupert for pulling out of Dudley in 2019. But anyone who understands strategic politics knows that was a loyal move designed to protect the Brexit cause. His Kingswood campaign? A masterstroke that shook the establishment and exposed just how brittle Reform’s back office really is. He asked for no funds, ran a grassroots campaign, and yet outperformed expectations. That’s not a diva. That’s a doer.
Yes, Reform is riding high now. But perhaps it’s peaked a little early, Gawain. You know it. I know it. The country suspects it. A bubble inflated by protest votes and angry energy may burst at the very moment it needs to be decisive. When the next general election comes, people have long memories.
And Rupert? He’s no sideshow. He’s not a Twitter rebel. He’s a contender. And with Ben by his side, they speak to the millions left cold by what politics has become: control-freakish, brittle, parties scared of their own stars and members.
Nigel brilliantly turned UKIP and Reform UK into national forces. But it was also brilliant men like Lowe, Habib, and indeed you, who gave those parties spine. If Nigel wants to make history again, he’ll need to decide: does he back the loyal public warriors, or does he protect the internal courtiers who’d turn on him next?
So Gawain – sharpen your pen, but please open your eyes. You and Nigel are both good men… lions, fighting to save our country. But this isn’t about mavericks roaring. It’s about patriots who refuse to be muzzled. Reform’s handling of this sorry saga didn’t break Rupert Lowe. It revealed its own fragility.
And history, Gawain, loves a comeback.
By Claire Bullivant.
This article was written by Claire Bullivant, CEO of the Great British PAC, in response to a piece by Gawain Towler, former Head of Press for Reform UK until September 2024, published in the Evening Standard. Gawain’s article is available to read here.
I agree with what Lowe has to say. But I wonder if it’s politically astute to say it out loud – and to say it now (4 years out from an election). For example, the idea of repatriating immigrants may be sensible, but it will alienate a lot of people and it depends how it’s done.
Sweden for example has offered its migrants around £25k to go back to their own country. A voluntary relocation is easier to sell.
I also think Zia over-reacted and misjudged badly – based on what we know, which is clearly not the whole story. Lowe is an asset, so he should have taken steps which kept Reform unified. Which may have meant taking no public steps at all.