Veterans In Politics Podcast
Veterans In Politics is a set of interviews that sets out to explore how the military community can help make our politics a better place. We sit down with individuals from across the world of politics, sharing secrets, giving tips and advice and inspiring the next generation. Veterans In Politics podcast's mission is to inspire, enable and empower the Armed Forces community to stand up and serve again!
Episodes
In this episode of the Veterans In Politics Podcast, Jonny Ball is joined by Major General Neil Marshall OBE, Chief Executive of the Forces Pension Society on their 80th Birthday, for a wide-ranging conversation about one of the most important — and often misunderstood — parts of military life: the Armed Forces pension.
What does your pension really mean? How have recent changes affected serving personnel...
Jonny Ball speaks with his former government colleague Derek Plews about a career that moved from journalism in Northern Ireland to reservist service, civil service communications, and senior defence media roles. The conversation explores how employer support shapes reservist life, why Defence Relationship Management was created, and why storytelling matters for veterans and the public record. Derek also discusses h...
Jonny Ball welcomes Minister for Veterans & People at the UK Ministry of Defence, Calvin Bailey MBE MP. We talk about his growing up in South East London, what inspired him to join the RAF, and the power of football communities with the Armed Forces. This was recorded exclusively for Veterans In Politics.
We also pay tribute to Operation Pitting, as we hit the 5 year anniversary of the withdrawal from...
This week Jonny Ball chats to former Royal Marine David Reed MP, who started his political journey listening to this podcast!
David is the Conservative Member of Parliament for Exmouth & Exeter East. He serves on the opposition front bench as Shadow Defence Whip, is a member of the International Development Committee, and Vice Chair of the APPG for Foreign Affairs.
David began his career in the Royal Marines and S...
This week, our host Jonny Ball catches up with an old friend, Dr Neil Shastri Hurst MP, who came on the show under very different circumstances in a previous season!
*Warning- we cover the subject of suicide in this episode. Details on how you can find help are below.
Neil was elected as the Member of Parliament for Solihull West and Shirley in July 2024. Born and raised in South Birmingham, Neil knows the value...
In this episode Jonny Ball meets Royal Navy Veteran Andrew Bowie MP.
Andrew grew up in Aberdeenshire spending the first years of his life in Alford, a village within the constituency of West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine. Andrew moved at a young age to the town of Inverurie.
Upon leaving school Andrew joined the Royal Navy in which he served as an officer for 3 years, a career that took him around the world to Br...
Note- this was recorded prior to Danny's resignation.
Danny Kinahan, is the first Veterans Commissioner for Northern Ireland and was appointed to this role by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland in September 2020, as a result of the New Decade New Approach political agreement.
He's a former Army officer, MLA and Member of Parliament.
In this episode, our host Jonny Ball quizzes him about his mil...
Colonel (Retd) James Phillips is the first veterans commissioner for Wales.
James, who lives in Pembrokeshire, left the Army after serving 33 years, including in Iraq, Afghanistan, Northern Ireland and the Balkans.
He believes Wales has a "long tradition of service and sacrifice".
His appointment means Wales joins Northern Ireland and Scotland in having a dedicated commissioner, though at the time of the recording, Eng...
Daniel McBirnie is a Saffron Walden councillor and resident. He has fought developers and won concessions for local people and is a former Army Lieutenant Colonel who’s provided MoD briefings to the government on Covid and Mental Health.
Daniel began his military career at the Army's 6th Form College, Welbeck, which is sadly no longer open. He went on to a full career in the Royal Logistics ...
Hailing from the West of Ireland, Rich’s vibrant childhood was filled with sports and weekend fun with his grandparents. After an ankle injury and subsequent loss of his left leg due to sepsis, Rich found a new path in athletics and indoor rowing. His resilience shone at the 2023 Invictus Games, where he claimed gold in the 100m, silver in table tennis, and bronze in the relay. And this is where our host Jonny...
We return this week during Season 10 of the podcast to the Conservative Leadership race with former Secretary of State, Rt Hon James Cleverly MP.
Our host Jonny Ball first met James back in the Noughties when they were both active in London Party Politics. Since then, James has gone on to great things, but in this episode, Jonny recalls an early moment from a Party Conference in 2008, to demonstr...
We kick off season 10 of the Veterans In Politics Podcast with Conservative Leadership hopeful, Tom Tugendhat! This is a fantastic start to the season, and you wont be surprised to learn that our host Jonny and Tom (whom share the same cap badge from their time in the army) talk about leadership... a lot!
Tom was Minister of State (Minister for Security) between 6 September 2022 and 5 July 2024 and atte...
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Jim was first elected to Ards Borough Council in 1985 and served as Mayor in 1991/92.
He was elected as a member of the Northern Ireland Forum for Political Dialogue in 1996 until it completed its work in 1998. He was then subsequently elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly representing Strangford.
Within the NI Assembly Jim served on both the Public Accounts Committee and Agriculture Committee. He was re-elected in...
This week we are back with our 'Behind the Politics' segment, speaking to those behind the scenes, turning our attention to the world of journalism. Our guest is from The University of Northampton, Kate Ironside.
Kate is a former political journalist, with 26 years experience in industry. She worked for the Reading Evening Post, Central Press, the Daily Express, Western Morning News and BBC Westminster. She s...
Tom Blenkinsop was born in Middlesbrough, brought-up in Marton and graduated from Teesside University with a BSc in Philosophy, Politics and Economics, and the University of Warwick with an MA in Continental philosophy.
Tom joined the Army Reserve in 2017 in the Royal Military Police in which he still serves today, and was an MP whilst training to be an RMP, something we explore in this episode.
About this week's guest: Dr. Sebastian Gorka is a Talk Show Host on the Salem Radio Network Platform, and began his show AMERICA FIRST on New Years Day, 2019.
With parents who had lived as children under fascism and then escaped Communist Hungary, Sebastian was raised to love freedom. And his love of talk-radio developed early. As a child he would listen late into the night to the shows of the London Broadcasti...
The Rt Hon Dr Andrew Murrison MP is a Minister at the MOD and we were excited to record this episode in the heart of our nation's Defence HQ at MOD Main Building.
We talk about the Invictus Games, Ukraine, his service in the Royal Navy as a doctor, both regular and reserve, his family, Defence and the various ministerial roles he has served in.
We also share a special message this Christmas time...
This week we speak to veteran Channel 4 and BBC investigative journalist, Michael Crick as part of our 'Behind the Politics' feature where we interview experts in the field of politics, from campaign managers to pollsters to journalists like Michael... and maybe even the odd Special Advisor!
Michael is a TV legend, broadcaster, journalist and author. He was a founding member of the Channel 4 News team a...
Veterans In Politics- Andrew Selous MP- Former Army Reservist on a day in the life of an MP
Our host first met Andrew Selous MP when he himself was brand new to politics. UIt was great to sit down in Parliament all these years later and chat through mucvh about the day in life of an MP. From PMQs to consituency life and casework, this episode is packed full on insight.
We also talk about hi...
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