A campaign has begun to encourage military veterans into politics in an attempt to boost diversity.
Army reservist Jonny Ball, 39, is behind Campaign Force which has cross-party support and help from Facebook, Sage and General Sir David Richards, a former chief of the defence staff.
About 15,000 Navy, Army and Royal Air Force servicemen and women return to civilian life each year.
The campaign wants to bring their leadership and strategic skills into politics. It also believes that as the army is a diverse employer, it could increase the number of ethnic minority, gay and female politicians.
Of the 650 MPs elected in 2017, 208 were women, 52 ethnic minority, 45 gay, lesbian or bisexual and four disabled.
Some 51 MPs have a military background, according to the All-Party Parliamentary Group for the Armed Forces — including Tories Tobias Ellwood and Mark Lancaster and Labour’s Dan Jarvis and Clive Lewis.
Mr Ball, who ran constituency campaigns for former Tory party chairman Grant Shapps, said: “It struck me nothing was being done to really tap into the service and skills of military veterans to make our communities work better. I want to inspire veterans to serve again.”
