Camilla TOMINEY
MPS who have served Queen and country outside of the Westminster bubble are fast emerging as the leading playmakers, with the potential to propel the next prime minister to power thanks to their tactical know-how and courage under fire.
As the race to succeed Theresa May steps up, a number of politicians with military pedigrees are being tapped up by rival candidates “war gaming” for support.
Able to follow orders, willing to take risks and with an ability to outmanoeuvre opponents by thinking several moves ahead, the former soldiers are not only seen as an key asset to any leadership campaign but also regarded as having the strength of character needed to take the party through what promises to be a challenging post Brexit period until the next general election.
Leading the running is former Green Jacket turned all-round-hero Tobias Ellwood, currently a defence minister, who tried in vain to save the life of PC Keith Palmer when he was stabbed by Khalid Masood during the 2017 Westminster terror attack.
The 52-year-old former Army captain is being actively courted by a number of the key leadership contenders including Boris Johnson, with whom he worked at the Foreign Office, Michael Gove and Jeremy Hunt.
Tipped by some as a potential runner, the father of two young sons and a lieutenant-colonel as a reservist with the 77th Brigade is also being touted as a future defence secretary.
A senior Tory source said the MP for Bournemouth, who was commissioned from Sandhurst in 1991 and served in Northern Ireland, Cyprus, Kuwait, Germany, Gibraltar and Bosnia, was on “every wannabe PM’S hit list”.
“The support of someone like Tobias can help to bring a lot of MPS across. Boris is very keen on landing him, as are Gove and Hunt although many aren’t ruling out him putting his own hat into the ring.”
James Cleverly, deputy party chairman, who was promoted as Brexit minister after the resignation of Chris Heaton-harris, is another leadership hopeful from a military background.
Commissioned into the Territorial Army as a second lieutenant in 1991 – the same year as Ellwood, he rose through the ranks to become a major in 2003, and lieutenant-colonel in 2015.
Until 2005, he was Battery Commander of 266 (Para) Battery Royal Artillery (Volunteers) before standing for political office, and was selected as the candidate for the Bexley and Bromley constituency of the London Assembly in 2007. Having worked for the Greater London Authority while Mr Johnson was mayor, many see his support of the former foreign secretary as a given – not least because he backed him as leader against Mrs May in 2016.
However, Mr Cleverly’s own supporters point out that he is one of the only MPS in the Tory party who appears capable of reaching out to young Conservatives.
Having acted as mayor Johnson’s “Youth Ambassador”, the 49-year-old father of two sons boosts great grassroots connections. Born to a British father and a mother from Sierra Leone, the MP for Braintree’s mixed race heritage also gives him a broader appeal than the average Tory.
But it is his ability to deftly handle media interviews and punchily present the Conservatives’ case on social media that sets him apart from the rest. As one MP put it: “James is a real attack dog. He can be brutal. You’d want him on your team and not anyone else’s. He’s a very committed Tory and very good at making the arguments eloquently and with passion. Downing Street often sends him on Good Morning Britain because no one else is brave enough to take on Piers Morgan.”
Another media-friendly military man – but with no ministerial experience – is Johnny Mercer, 37, who did three tours of Afghanistan serving mostly with 29th Commando Regiment Royal Artillery. The outspoken MP for Plymouth Moor View, who famously starred on the last series of Celebrity Hunted alongside Sky News presenter Kay Burley, has previously described the Government as “a s--show”.
“Johnny is another ex-military MP who is seen as a rising star in the party,” said a fellow Tory. “But he is completely untested. He goes on the media and mouths off because he can as a backbencher. But he’s the kind of guy that needs to be given a ministerial post so he can be given the chance to put his money where his mouth is.”
The same can be said of Tom Tugendhat, the current chairman of the foreign affairs select committee, who is also tipped as a future prime minister – although equally lacking in ministerial experience as Mercer. Both frequently post videos on Twitter to attract a wider audience on social media.
Tugendhat, 45, was elected MP for Tonbridge and Malling in 2015 having risen through the Army ranks to become a lieutenant-colonel with the Intelligence Corps, serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“He’s being courted by the leadership rivals because he shown so much potential as a committee chairman,” said one Tory.
Rory Stewart, the prisons minister, makes up the quintet of ex-military rising stars. Although his Army experience is far more limited – having only been served for a brief period as an infantry officer with the Black Watch during his 1991 gap year – his work with the UK Diplomatic Service is much admired as Britain’s representative to Montenegro in the wake of the Kosovo crisis and in Iraq following the 2003 invasion.
But having once been a member of the Labour Party and as a prominent Remainer, some fear the 46-year-old old Etonian’s liberal credentials may stand in his way.