Who is Tom Tugendhat? The Iraq and Afghanistan veteran running for Tory leader
After Labour swept to a landslide general election win, the Conservative party has been left looking for a new leader.
Tom Tugendhat – a reserve officer who served in Iraq and Afghanistan – has thrown his hat in the ring for the Tory leadership, having already tried to become Prime Minister in 2022.
When he was running for PM, Mr Tugendhat revealed he got issued so many socks in the Army that, even though he left in 2013, he "still only wears Army socks".
But who is the MP who still wears Army socks and what experience could he bring to the role?
Military service
Mr Tugendhat, 53, left the British Army in July 2013 after a career in which he served on operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and, most recently, as the military assistant to the Chief of the Defence Staff.
As a Territorial Army officer, he also worked on operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and established the Armed Forces Muslim Association.
When the Iraq War broke out in 2003, he was mobilised as an Arabic-speaking intelligence officer to work with the Royal Marines.
After originally deploying as part of Operation Telic, he returned to his job in the city but was soon asked to help with the economic reconstruction of Iraq and ran the central region, including the capital Baghdad, to distribute the finances heading into the country.
In 2005, Mr Tugendhat was asked by the Foreign Office to go to Afghanistan and help grow the National Security Council – a role that saw him advise the then-Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
He also worked in Afghanistan as an advisor to the governor of Helmand Province and, despite returning to the UK after two years in the country, he deployed back to Helmand with his former Royal Marines unit.
He served operationally for another two years, receiving an MBE. He finished his last patrol in July 2009.
Following his time in the Middle East, Mr Tugendhat headed home to the UK where he worked on the Army Strategy Team at the request of the Chief of the General Staff, helping to prepare for the Strategic Defence and Security Review.
When the Army chief later became head of the British Armed Forces, Mr Tugendhat served as his military assistant and principal advisor – he remains a reservist.
An interview with the Sunday Times described an element of secrecy surrounding his career up to 2015.
"What is public is that I was an intelligence corps officer and in that role I served in various branches of the military, mostly with small units of Royal Marines, and also alongside other government departments around the world," he told the newspaper.
"Between 2003 and 2009 I was almost constantly deployed on operations. I spent a year in Iraq and four years in Afghanistan."
Political career
In 2015, Mr Tugendhat was elected as MP for Tonbridge, Edenbridge and Malling, before being re-elected in 2017, 2019 and 2024.
He formerly served as the chair of the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee (FAC), with Mr Tugendhat criticising the UK's decision to withdraw from Afghanistan.
At the time of Nato's withdrawal from Afghanistan, he called the decision a "major strategic mistake".
He also said in the House of Commons the "lack of a plan was a surprise" and the "failure of integrity when discussing matters with the Select Committee was a huge surprise" during the Afghan withdrawal.
"Our enemies do not fear us and allies do not trust us," he said.
"That has been tested in Ukraine, and we are all paying for it in every gas bill and every food shop."
He also worked on the National Security Strategy Joint Committee up until 2023.
The Army reservist previously served as the Security Minister but was replaced in Government by Labour's former Para Dan Jarvis.
Mr Tugendhat previously ran for Prime Minister in the leadership battle in 2022.
He was asked on BBC Radio 4's Today programme if he was up to being prime minister without having ever held a government job.
"Well, of course I am," he responded. "That's exactly why I'm standing, because the experience I offer is, you're right, not from Whitehall, it's from the real world.
"It's from Afghanistan and Iraq, where I served in the military, and it's from around the world where I've worked in different ways."
According to TheyWorkForYou.com, Mr Tugendhat has consistently voted for replacing Trident with a new nuclear weapons system.
He also campaigned to remain in the European Union.
Who else is running?
Kemi Badenoch is seen as the front-runner for Tory leadership, while former home secretary and military veteran James Cleverly is also in the mix.
Robert Jenrick, Suella Braverman, Dame Priti Patel and Mel Stride are also looking to be Tory leader.
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