MP Rupert Lowe Says UK 6,000-Strong Gov Comms Machine Is ‘Afuera on Steroids’
Independent MP Rupert Lowe has warned that the Government Communication Service (GCS), the UK’s sprawling communications machine, is operating at an extraordinary scale, especially after ministers confirmed the unit actively monitors public social-media posts.
In a written parliamentary answer published on the 2nd of December, Paymaster General Nick Thomas-Symonds said GCS “monitors publicly available media posts, under strict controls, to measure communication effectiveness, understand public narratives, and address potential mis/disinformation.”
While the Minister stressed that GCS “does not access private information or monitor individuals,” he confirmed that officials “collect, store, and process data from public social media posts,” including examples of high-performing content connected to government priorities.
According to the Minister, GCS analysts use “commercially available automated and AI tools, such as Storyzy,” procured through civil-service frameworks, to carry out what the government describes as “information environment analysis.” No external contractors are involved, he added.
The scale of the operation has raised alarm.
Rupert Lowe, the independent MP for Great Yarmouth, a businessman, farmer, former MEP and ex-Southampton FC chairman who now leads the Restore Britain movement, disclosed the staffing numbers after tabling a written question.
Posting on X, Lowe told his 485,000 followers: “I asked how many staff the ‘Government Communication Service’ has, the unit that spies on our social media, among other activity… 6,150. 6,150 staff. That is astounding.
“The budget? ‘The total budget is not held centrally in the Cabinet Office.”
“Afuera on steroids,” he added, referencing anarcho‐ capitalist Argentine President Javier Milei’s famous cry to purge state bureaucracies.
In all fairness, the 6,150 is probably the total estimated headcount of the entire Government Communication Service, which covers every comms professional across Whitehall, so press officers, digital teams, departmental comms, internal comms, marketing, crisis comms, etc.
But how many of these are watching you?