A former British National Party organiser is at the centre of an increasingly chaotic far‑right muddle in Kent, lurching from one newly-launched party to another and back again, leaving a trail of confusion and recriminations in his wake.
Graeme William Sergeant, a retired plumber and Millwall supporter from Herne Bay, is a onetime BNP activist who once tried to get the British Democrats going in Kent.
Loggerheads
He has spent the past few weeks bouncing between Ben Habib’s Advance UK and Rupert Lowe MP’s Restore Britain, supporting (to his followers’ chagrin) two parties that are at loggerheads with each other – and neither of which seems to want him.
Confused? Stay with us…
Sergeant, born in Wimbledon in December 1955, has spent more than two decades drifting in and out of Britain’s far‑right subculture.
Raised in Wandsworth in a large family and spending time in a children’s home, where he says he was abused, Sergeant’s political trajectory hardened in the early 2000s after he moved from south London to Kent. Living first in Whitstable, he moved to the village of Herne and then to the hamlet of Buckland‑by‑Faversham.
BNP organiser
He became an active BNP organiser and briefly managed to get himself co‑opted onto two parish councils, though his tenures were short and undistinguished. In 2009, he stood for the BNP in Sheerness at a County Council election, finishing last.
Following the BNP’s collapse, Sergeant gravitated towards the British Democrats in 2013, though when he “contacted the party about getting going in Kent” he found himself ignored by headquarters.
Retirement in Herne Bay brought a new phase: a flurry of community and charity initiatives, often involving his wife and granddaughter.
These ranged from cancer‑support cafés, fundraising drives and a repair workshop to a campaign about abuse at his former children’s home. He also tried to reopen one public toilet and have another registered as a “Community Asset”.
He became a prolific Freedom of Information requester, filing over 40 questions across NHS trusts, councils and police forces. He also served as an elected governor of East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust.
Despite his high profile in the area, at the 2021 Kent County Council elections, Sergeant came bottom of the poll in Herne Bay East, standing as an Independent.
Plunged headlong
Last year, he plunged headlong back into far‑right politics via Ben Habib’s Advance UK, for which he set up a Kent Facebook group in September 2025, just before the party’s official launch. Although the Kent group has nominally attracted over 200 members, real‑world engagement has been negligible: a planned social event at Herne Bay in February drew just one confirmed attendee – Sergeant himself.
Rupert Lowe launched Restore Britain as a party on 13 February. The day after (Valentine’s Day), he received a marriage proposal from Ben Habib, who pitched a merger with Advance UK. Sergeant, convinced that the nuptials were a done deal, hastily rebranded his Facebook group as “Restore UK Kent)” (sic).
The following day, Sergeant posted (in his usual fat-fingered style):
“Good Mornin,what a great day,three points for Millwall and Rupert and Ben going to work togethe, … So come and join us at Restore UK”.
He followed this up:
“we are now Restore UK(Kent) and any elections we fight from the 16th [February] will be as Restore UK Candidates Come and join us,I want to set up a proper Kent branch,so if you fancy a position or want to help please get in touch”.
Alas, his followers were not so sure, with one arguing: “No way on earth will Restore be anything like advance uk. Another corrupt party. Rupert is for himself, just like farage.”
Plaintive
As the days ticked by with no response from Lowe to the merger proposal, Sergeant’s posts became increasingly plaintive. On 18 February, he wrote:
“Unfortunately it seems the merger is not going ahead… The three parties [Reform UK, Advance UK and Restore Britain]… cannot all exist and try to save the country… So my question to the leaders… do you want what’s best for this country or are your egos bigger than what’s right.”
He added, with a characteristic note of melodrama:
“I am seventy years of age… if people vote wrongly in 2029, I probably won’t be around to see the total destruction of the UK.”
Meanwhile, his followers were trying his patience. Also on 18 February, he warned:
“Please do not try to post Anti Semetic (sic) comments. We will not approve them and you could find yourself banned.”
Many of Sergeant’s followers (with Advance UK – Dorset prominent among them) grew increasingly tetchy with him for “jumping the gun” on the merger. But he ploughed on, posting later on 18 February:
“I have paid my membership fee to Restore Britain and I have asked the party to make us the Kent Election Agents”.
However, later still on the same day, came this announcement:
“The Group at present is representing both Advance UK(Kent) and Restore Britain.If a merger does take place we will represent the new party but if no merger takes place we will revert back to an Advanced UK (Kent) group and I will resign from Restore Britain”.
The next day he accused Advance UK – Dorset of “manipulat[ing] things for your own ends” in posts to the group.
Passed over
On 22 February, Sergeant complained bitterly that he had been passed over for the post of Advance UK’s South East Regional Director and had not been put in charge of the Canterbury area branch:
“what the hell is going on with Advance, When and how were these decisions made as it dosent seem that democratic at the moment”.
Advance UK – Dorset taunted him: “as you know before when you change your site name to ‘RESTORE’ we posted from Dorset that you had jumped the gun, you may of done that again”.
On 23 February, Sergeant explained that, while his group would be reverting back to the name of Advance UK (Kent), “we cannot change the name back for a month” – as if matters weren’t already confused enough.
He added:
“Unfortunately we are still in dark about any merger and like being stood up at the cinem[a],you only wait so long”. Sergeant had apparently failed to notice that, by this time, Ben Habib was attacking Rupert Lowe with the unrestrained venom of a jilted bride.
Sergeant was by now posting increasingly exasperated messages:
“I am getting fed up with people not reading the rules.”
“I will not tolerate abuse on this group.”
“If this continues I will close the group down.”
Confusion increasingly reigned over who was running Restore Britain (or is it Advance UK?) in Kent. Sergeant repeatedly insisted “I am not the leader”, while simultaneously announcing events, issuing rules and reprimanding members.
One exasperated post read:
“I have had enough of people telling me what to do… If you don’t like it, leave.”
On 24 February, Sergeant posted a plea to Ben Habib asking for “some answers please” as to why Advance UK won’t give him the raft of official positions to which he thinks he’s entitled, having set up his very successful Facebook group.
He added:
“Ps I have paused the Facebook page for now”.
Yet he continues to operate the page, asking people to “come and join us at Restore Britain UK.( Kent)” – by which he really means “Advance UK (Kent)”, of course (or does he?).
Sergeant’s missive to Habib concludes: “Can you please tell me what’s going on?”
A plea we can only echo…
