Soldier-turned-commentator hails strong Armed Forces representation in Westminster
A former full-time soldier and host of the Veterans in Politics podcast has said the number of military veterans serving as MPs as a result of the election "has to be a good news story".
Jonny Ball, now a reservist, was speaking to Forces News following the Labour Party's landslide victory in the General Election.
Mr Ball, who has served in Northern Ireland and Afghanistan, said the election of military candidates from across all the main political parties is a change from the last election.
Mr Ball explained that this diversity shows the UK and, more specifically, the Armed Forces that politics is "not an officer's sport".
"We are seeing those from the Other Ranks community standing up to serve again," he said.
"And, in terms of the gender balance, we're actually on par with being the same from the last Parliament with three female members of Parliament coming from the Armed Forces.
"They all lean towards the Labour Party, which is a marked change. It's the first time in a generation we've seen that."
And whilst the number of people with a military background, including reservists and veterans, serving as MPs has dropped from 50 to 35, Mr Ball said when you analyse the numbers, that does not tell the whole story.
"It's fair to initially think that it's quite disappointing that we dropped our numbers in Parliament," he said.
"But actually if you consider there are 650 MPs, that means over 5% of Parliament is made up of the Armed Forces community."
This, Mr Ball explained, is a slight over-representation, with veterans making up about 3% of the general UK population.
"That's great news that we're proportionally represented within our Parliament, across our community," he said.
Finally, Mr Ball urged those from the military community who had not been successful to not give up hope and, if they did not want to run again as an MP, they could still work within the political community.
"I know what it's like to win and also what it's like to lose and the fact these people have put themselves forward, their heads above the parapet in the first place, is to be highly commended," he said.
"That is a massive win for our community. For those that are all feeling a bit bruised after this election, I would encourage them to think about local government."
He said getting involved in local politics uses their experience and gives them a chance "to stand up and serve again in their communities".
"For some, they might have tried this and thought, you know, not for me.
"They might even think about working behind the scenes in politics. At the moment, there are a lot of MPs looking for staff, right?
"So they've got the skills. Anyone that's got leadership within the Armed Forces adds so much value, whether it be in operations of running campaigns out in the field or running the busy MP's office.
"There's definitely a place for the members of the Armed Forces," he added.
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