Veterans In Politics Podcast

Send us Fan Mail 'All Political careers end in failure' Enoch Powell MP Said by probably one of our most controversial figures, what is undisputed is the accuracy of this statement.  From Neville Chamberlain, to Churchill, to Boris, and even Powell himself, failure is a constant in politics. This season 5 of Veterans In Politics, we explore failure AND success, proving that failure can o...

Send us Fan Mail Veterans In Politics- Season 4, Episode 9  with  Jody Mitic Jody Mitic is a Master Sniper, double amputee and former Ottawa City Councillor.  He's also our very first guest from Canada and super cool guy!  He starred in The Amazing Race Canada ,  and is the author of Unflinching: The Making of a Canadian Sniper.  It's a great read! I was introduced to Jody via a mutual v...

Send us Fan Mail Veterans In Politics- Season 4, Episode 10 with Ukrainian MP Dmytro Gurin In this Ukrainian War special, our host Jonny Ball speaks directly from the streets of Ukraine with Dmytro Gurin MP.  This has been produced in conjunction with UK not for profit Bridge to Unity and you can find their details below. Jonny finds out from Dmytro about the nature of the Ukrainian people in a qu...

Send us Fan Mail Veterans In Politics- Season 4, Episode 8  with  Cllr Andy Newman We first met with Councillor Andy Newman at Labour Party Conference in 2021 and immediately hit it off.  We found him inspiring and in politics for all the right reasons.  That's why we had to get him on the show! A former member of the Household Division, serving in the Guards on operational and ceremonial dut...

Send us Fan Mail Veterans In Politics- Season 4, Episode  with  Steve Baker MP FRSA Steve’s career began in the Royal Air Force as an engineer officer working with Tornado, Jaguar and the Adour aero engine. He became a Chartered Engineer through the Royal Aeronautical Society and held a military airworthiness licence. After his time with the RAF, he read for an MSc in Computer Science at Oxford Un...

Send us Fan Mail Veterans In Politics- Season 4, Episode 6 with  Sir Desmond Swayne TD VR MP Before going into politics, Sir Desmond was a teacher, and then a manager at the Royal Bank of Scotland. He was Parliamentary Private Secretary to David Cameron, both during his time as Leader of the Opposition, 2005–10, and then for two years while Cameron was Prime Minister.  We ask him about what Camero...

Send us Fan Mail Veterans In Politics- Season 4, Episode 5 with  Colonel Bob Stewart DSO MP This veteran in politics is know by most simply as 'Colonel Bob' due to the fact that he was a regular feature on our TV screens during the 90s and the conflict in Bosnia.  To that, he's also known as 'Bosnia Bob' and was decorated with a DSO as a result of his distinguished militar...

Send us Fan Mail Veterans In Politics- Season 4, Episode 4 with  Alderman Ryan McCready UUP councillor Ryan McCready’s videos have made him an online hit — racking up thousands of views, including one of him on a skateboard.  We joke about this from the offset of the episode, but also comment how this is helping him engage with a younger audience. The decorated former soldier, who served in Afghan...

Send us Fan Mail Veterans In Politics- Season 4, Episode 3 with  David Richmond CBE Retired Colonel David Richmond CBE, a former Commanding Officer of 5th Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland, who served in Afghanistan and Iraq and subsequently became the Recovery Director at Help for Heroes, was the first appointed head of the UK's Office for Veterans Affairs. He now sits as the Governme...

Send us Fan Mail Veterans In Politics- Season 4, Episode 2 with  Sir Iain Duncan Smith MP Few politicians are known simply by their initials.  IDS is one of the few 'big beasts' of politics remaining in Parliament.  Something our host Jonny quizzes him on.  It was a huge honour sitting down with Iain, a former Leader of the Opposition and of the Conservative Party.  He's also known...

Send us Fan Mail Veterans In Politics- Season 4, Episode 1 with  Felicity Cornelius-Mercer - Parliamentary staffer and wife of Johnny Mercer MP We begin season 4 of Veterans In Politics with our very first military spouse and the often untold story of the partners behind the politicians.  Felicity Cornelius-Mercer is known not just as the wife of Johnny Mercer MP, but also as having had a successf...

Send us Fan Mail In this bonus episode to Remember the fallen, our host Jonny reflects on his personal connections with Remembrance and the connection between politics too.  He remembers the fallen of WW1, as well as his very personal experience of repatriating a fallen comrade from Afghanistan- L/Cpl Oliver Thomas. What is not so well known are the stories of MPs, Peers and Parliamentary staff wh...

Send us Fan Mail Veterans In Politics- Season 3, Episode 9 with  Peter McCall - Police & Crime Commissioner for Cumbria We wrap under season 3 with Police & Crime Commissioner Peter McCall, a former Corps Colonel of the RLC and one of the most senior veterans in politics in the UK. Jonny our host asks Peter about his military career, how he transitioned into becoming a politician and his v...

Send us Fan Mail Veterans In Politics- Season 3, Episode 8 with  Councillor James Rands We continue our look at veterans in local government with Liberal Democrat Councillor, James Rands. James is  a former Regular Army Officer from the 1st Battalion, The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment (PWRR) and continues to serve in 'The Tigers' today in the Reserve Army.. James is our first T...

Send us Fan Mail Veterans In Politics- Season 3, Episode 7 with  Councillor Imran Chowdhury BEM We return back to local government with our first Bangladeshi army veteran, West Northamptonshire Council Councillor, Imran Chowdhury BEM. Imran has had quite the life, that mirrors the recent history of Bangladesh, who have just celebrated 50 years of independence. Imran was recently elected to Sixfiel...

Send us Fan Mail Veterans In Politics- Season 3, Episode 6  with  Phillip Thompson OAM MP This episode was recorded at 7am UK time in order to sit down with the simply inspirational Phillip Thompson OAM MP.  Phil has served on operations in East Timor and Afghanistan, where he was badly injured.  A champion for veterans' affairs and an all round great guy, you will love this episode with the...

Send us Fan Mail Veterans In Politics- Season 3, Episode 5  with  Rep. Grier Martin- North Carolina State Legislature, USA Veterans In Politics goes global with our first guest from the USA, US Airborne Reservist, Rep. Grier Martin.  Grier is a veteran of Afghanistan, and he and Jonny talk about how this experience motivated him to stand up and serve again in politics.  Grier also talks about what...

Send us Fan Mail Veterans In Politics- Season 3, Episode 4  with  James Heappey MP- Armed Forces Minister In this Party Conference Special, Jonny sits down with Armed Forces Minister James Heappey MP.  James is refreshingly honest and real in this episode, and it's clear that his military service is something that has grounded his values, following tough tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, in some...

Send us Fan Mail Veterans In Politics- Season 3, Episode 3  with  Stephen Morgan MP- Shadow Armed Forces Minister In this Party Conference Special, Jonny sits down with Shadow Armed Forces Minister Stephen Morgan MP.  They talk about Stephen's D-Day veteran grandfather, and how we might learn from that generation, as well as Labour's efforts to engage with the armed forces community.  Th...

Send us Fan Mail Veterans In Politics- Season 3, Episode 2  with  James Clark- Conservative Friends of the Armed Forces Jonny catches up with James Clark, the Founder of the Conservative Friends of the Armed Forces.  Jonny and James first met over 10 years ago in pre-deployment training for Afghanistan, where they both went on to serve on Op Herrick 15.  Years later, they keep bumping into each ot...

Send us Fan Mail Veterans In Politics- Season 3, Episode 1  with  Stephanie Peacock MP- Shadow Veterans Minister In this first for a new season, Jonny sits down with Shadow Veterans Minister Stephanie Peacock MP.  They talk about the role of the Shadow Defence team, Steph's efforts reaching out to the veterans community and her career to date. As part of her efforts, Stephanie and her team ha...

Send us Fan Mail We're back for a 3rd season and our UK base gets wider, with guests from across the globe, as well as familiar faces from UK politics.  But our show remains the same, to explore the World of Veterans In Politics and inspire others to stand up and serve again in public life. Over the next few weeks we have Ministers, Shadow Ministers, Police & Crime Commissioners, local go...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode we look back on previous guests who have served in Afghanistan. They include from season 1: Johnny Mercer MP, Dan Jarvis MBE MP & Doug Beattie MC and season 2: Tom Tugendhat MBE VR MP, Cllr Greg Hammond and Clive Lewis MP Our host Jonny Ball served in Afghanistan in 2011-12 and reflects briefly on that tour.  He dedicates this episode to the memory of his frien...

Send us Fan Mail Veterans In Politics- Season 2, Episode 8  with  Tom Tugendhat MBE VR MP In the last of this current series Jonny sits down with fellow Int Corps Reservist, linguist and veteran of Afghanistan (and other operations!) Tom Tugendhat.  Their chat is as you might imagine when two people from the same Corps family come together for a catch up and you're invited to listen in. They...

Send us Fan Mail Veterans In Politics- Season 2, Episode 7  with  Cllr Greg Hammond Greg served a 32 year long career in the Royal Air Force and lists a number of his military achievements and roles in this episode.  Leaving as a Senior Officer didn't stop him starting at the bottom of politics, and he remarkably did a stint in Parliament, in what you and I might deem as 'work experience...