Veterans In Politics Podcast

Send us Fan Mail Veterans In Politics- Sir Mike Penning MP- from Guardsman to Minister to Knight of the Realm It was a huge pleasure recording this episode with Sir Mike Penning in his office in the heart of The House of Commons, in Parliament, Westminster.  Our host Jonny first met Mike at the MOD, where Mike was serving as Minister for the Armed Forces, essentially Deputy Secretary of State for...

Send us Fan Mail Veterans In Politics with Cllr Louise Jones, Veteran Intelligence Corps' Officer, local councillor and parliamentary candidate Louise and our host Jonny first met at Labour Party Conference and they share a history with the Intelligence Corps.  Louise was a commissioned officer in the Corps and tours included time in both Germany and Afghanistan. Now working in the private se...

Send us Fan Mail This week we talk to Stephen James, a former member of the Intelligence Corps', a teacher and social entrepreneur.  Stephen is also Chairman of Folkestone and Hythe Conservatives. In this episode we talk about his military career that took him to Afghanistan and his transition into teaching that benefitted from a veteran mentor.  We also discuss leadership in politics, includ...

Send us Fan Mail Veterans In Politics- Honourable Artillery Company Biz Network Special- with Ed McGuinness and James Clark Recorded in front of a studio audience at the Honourable Artillery Company with their Business Network and our guests Ed McGuinness and James Clark from the Conservative Friends of the Armed Forces. This was a fun episode to record and it was great to have Ed and James return...

Send us Fan Mail We're back with  new season kicking off with our host Jonny Ball and his wife Lydia! We launch a new season with a new feature to the podcast called 'Behind the Politics' where we interview experts in the field of politics, from campaign managers to pollsters to journalists.. and maybe even the odd Special Advisor! Sit back and learn how our couple met, their experi...

Send us Fan Mail Veterans In Politics- Season 7, Episode 6- Cllr Will Stone - Former Rifles Soldier and now a Parliamentary Candidate for the Labour Party in Swindon. Cllr Will Stone has broken onto the scene recently as one of our younger veterans in politics.  He began his career as an infantry soldier in his local Regiment, The Rifles.  After a career that included representing his Regiment and...

Send us Fan Mail Veterans In Politics- Season 7, Episode 5- Cllr Chris 'Chalky' Mitchell - Former REME Officer  and now a Council Leader in Worcester for the Conservatives. Chalky was introduced to the show by a mutual veteran friend.  This is the first time that we have had the privilege of interviewing a leader of a local authority so couldn't resist the opportunity to ask about t...

Send us Fan Mail Veterans In Politics- Season 7, Episode 4- Jonny Singh - Former chinook pilot on what purpose means and international development. Jonny Singh is super humble a despite having been awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross in Afghanistan for bravery.  He describes this incident in detail, and even talks about how 'we' won the award- referencing that the award wasn't ju...

Send us Fan Mail Veterans In Politics- Season 7, Episode 3- Mike Crofts- army veteran, approved Labour candidate and criminal justice charity founder. Our host Jonny Ball first met Mike Crofts working together on another podcast 'Veterans Work' where they focussed on veterans' employability issues.  He was immediately impressed by Mike's work in the criminal justice system, usi...

Send us Fan Mail Veterans In Politics- Season 7, Episode 2- Richard Foord MP- the newest veteran in Parliament having been elected as a Lib Dem MP in the Tiverton & Honiton by-election of 2022. Richard Foord is an army veteran having served for 10 years as an army officer in the Adjutant Generals Corps (ETS Branch).  Essentially, he was an army teacher, and served on an operational tour of the...

Send us Fan Mail Veterans In Politics- Season 7, Episode 1- Councillor Bayo Alaba- The Parachute Regiment veteran on his work in the community, race, family values as well as his service as a local councillor. Cllr Bayo Alaba is a former member of the Parachute Regiment.  Fiercely proud of his Nigerian roots, he does not want to be simply known as just a 'black voice' but for his many ot...

Send us Fan Mail Veterans In Politics concludes 2022 with a 'Best of' special, featuring snippets from 24 episodes published across the year Join our amazing guests who made 2022 a special year for our podcast.  From Felicity Cornelius-Mercer (our most popular episode of the year) to Sir Iain Duncan-Smith MP, to Dan Jarvis MP... we landed some great interviews this year.  From guests in...

Send us Fan Mail Veterans In Politics- Season 6, Episode 7- Councillor Hannah Jarvis- The Iraq veteran on her work in Ukraine, being a mum in politics as well as her service as a local councillor. Cllr Hannah Jarvis is a long standing supporter and friend of CampaignForce and the Veterans In Politics Podcast.  A veteran of Iraq, she had a unique military career, serving on the frontline attached t...

Send us Fan Mail Veterans In Politics- Season 6, Episode 6- Councillor Michael Kurn- The sports journalist who answered the call to serve to lead by joining the army reserves We met Councillor Michael Kurn at Conservative Conference 2022 to grab a quick interview ahead of his final stages of commissioning into the army reserves.  We are pleased to report that since recording, Michael successfully...

Send us Fan Mail Veterans In Politics- Season 6, Episode 5- Rachel Hopkins MP- Shadow Veterans' Minister in her first ever podcast interview. We return with yet another Shadow Defence team interview with newly appointed Shadow Minister Rachel Hopkins MP.  We have sat down with two of her predecessors and were only too pleased to be able to record this chat with her, in what is her first ever...

Send us Fan Mail Veterans In Politics- Season 6, Episode 4- Heston Russell- Australian Special Forces veteran on purpose, his sexuality and righting wrongs. In our second episode with an Australian veteran (Heston makes a dig about this fact!) we sit down with one of our most fascinating guests yet!  We talk veterans, purpose, sexuality and masculinity and much, much more in this must listen!   An...

Send us Fan Mail Veterans In Politics- Season 6, Episode 3- Ben Obese-Jecty the infantry officer veteran of Iraq and Afghan and former Conservative Parliamentary Candidate. We sat down with Ben at Conservative Party Conference 2022 to discuss his time in the infantry during the most intense period of war fighting for the British Army, having deployed to both Iraq and Afghanistan, and we also get a...

Send us Fan Mail Veterans In Politics- Season 6, Episode 2-Labour Party Conference 2022 Special with Dan Jarvis MP, Salesforce and Labour Friends of the Forces We return back to Labour Party Conference where we record a special episode of Veterans In Politics with a panel of veterans in front of a live audience.  Our host Jonny Ball welcomes Dan Jarvis MP, one of our most respected veterans in Par...

Send us Fan Mail Veterans In Politics- Season 6, Episode 1- Conservative Party Conference 2022 Special with James Sunderland MP, Salesforce and Conservative Friends of the Armed Forces We return back to Conservative Party Conference where we record a special episode of Veterans In Politics with a panel of veterans in front of a live audience.  Our host Jonny Ball welcomes Chair of the Defence Sele...

Send us Fan Mail Veterans In Politics- Season 5, Episode 7 with Former Councillor Louise Harbour Louise Harbour served in the RAF Engineering Branch as one of the few women at that time.  She grew up in the North West, and has returned home to serve her community.  Sadly, since recording this episode, Louise lost her seat on the council in the local elections, and with it, her position as Deputy L...

Send us Fan Mail Veterans In Politics- Season 5, Episode 6 with Ed McGuinness Ed McGuinness is a Conservative campaigner and former British Army officer, chairman of Islington Conservatives, President of Conservatives in the City and board member of CF Armed Forces . He was also a Parliamentary candidate in the 2019 General Election. Ed's passions are providing exciting policies for young peo...

Send us Fan Mail Veterans In Politics- Season 5, Episode 5 with Councillor Alex Lee We sit down this week with Alex Lee, a former soldier of both the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment (PWRR) and the Royal Signals.  Joining the army shortly before 9/11 Alex's career was highly operational.  From Kosovo to Iraq to Afghanistan.   In this episode, he bravely shares his experience of mental...

Send us Fan Mail Veterans In Politics- Season 5, Episode 4  with Earl Attlee We meet Earl Attlee who first entered the House in 1992 and in 1999 was elected to be one of the remaining hereditary Peers. In opposition he served as a Whip and Spokesperson for various departments and as a Lord in Waiting (Lords Whip) from 2010 to 2014 under the Cameron Government. Earl Attlee served as a Major in the...

Send us Fan Mail Veterans In Politics- Season 5, Episode 3  with  Dr Neil Shastri-Hurst Soldier, surgeon and Conservative campaigner Neil Shastri-Hurst was brought up in a tradition of public service. Neil’s parents both worked for the NHS; his mother a nurse and his father a GP of forty years. They passed that dedication down to Neil and, following in their footsteps, he went on to study medicine...

Send us Fan Mail Veterans In Politics- Season 5, Episode 2 with Bob Seely MBE MP Bob is MP for the Isle of Wight parliamentary constituency.  He is the sixth generation to be involved in community life on the Isle of Wight, including family members who have served as its MP.  Our host Jonny explores this history, including that of his Uncle Jack and his famous warhorse 'Warrior' who serv...