From Service to Statesmanship: Why Recently Discharged British Veterans May Not Yet Be Ready for Politics

In Britain, we rightly revere our veterans. The stoic dignity of those who’ve worn the Queen’s and now the King’s, uniform resonates deeply with the public imagination. They’ve stood watch in Helmand, patrolled Belfast, kept peace in Kosovo, and responded to crises both at home and abroad. Their service is beyond question. But their readiness for politics, especially immediately after military discharge, is in my opinion a different matter entirely. There’s a growing appetite, particularly in a post-Brexit Britain where public trust in politicians wavers, to seek leadership from “outside the bubble.” Veterans, with their discipline, clarity of purpose, and lived experience of conflict, often appear like the antidote to the murky, spin-heavy world of Westminster. But this romanticised leap from the battlefield to the ballot box is fraught with unexamined assumptions and very real risks. In the armed forces, command is clear, structure is rigid, and decisions can be life-or-death. But in the House of Commons? Power lies in persuasion, not position. Political life is messy, performative, and often painfully slow. Veterans emerging from military service may be used to direct action, politics is the art of indirect everything. Take the protocol driven culture of Parliament: honourable members, archaic procedures, the omnipresent whiff of centuries-old tradition. For someone who’s recently been in a forward operating base or on a naval/airforce deployment, it can feel more like theatre than governance.

Military service instils a deep moral compass, often honed in high-stakes, morally complex environments. But politics, particularly in the UK, is the land of compromise, party whips, and parliamentary arithmetic. It's where ideals are routinely bartered for votes, and where even noble intentions get bogged down in red tape and political calculation. A recently discharged veteran may still operate with the urgency and clarity of command but politics rarely rewards clarity. It rewards consensus. That disconnect can lead to frustration or a sense of betrayal, especially when trying to enact change within a system designed to resist it. Unlike in the US, the UK has a tradition of strong civil-military separation. Military figures are rarely political celebrities. While senior officers occasionally transition into public roles, think General Sir Richard Dannatt, it's not common for recently discharged service members to leap straight into Parliament. This cultural norm exists for a reason: democracy depends on civilian oversight of the military. Rapid entry of veterans into politics, without time to fully reacclimate to civilian society, risks blurring the lines between service and sovereignty. It’s not a question of loyalty, but of perspective. Let’s not tiptoe around it, many veterans leave service carrying invisible wounds. PTSD, operational stress injuries, and the jarring experience of reintegration into civilian life are common. Politics, with its relentless media scrutiny, adversarial tone, and institutional instability, is no sanctuary. If anything, it can reopen and intensify those wounds. A veteran’s strength is not diminished by acknowledging these challenges. But rushing into political life before processing them is dangerous, both for the individual and for the integrity of the office they hold. Leadership in the field does not directly equate to leadership in a constituency. Constituents don’t follow orders,they ask questions. They expect empathy, not authority. They require negotiation, not direction and governing a nation means understanding not just security, but housing, health, education, economics, and all the tangled complexities of everyday life. Many veterans could one day make phenomenal MPs, Ministers, or even Prime Ministers, but that journey should be guided, not rushed. Programmes like the Armed Forces Parliamentary Scheme enable civilian MP’s the opportunity to engage with the Armed Forces and gain an insight into military life so a veteran-focused mentorship for veterans considering a a career in politics might be a good start but it wouldnt be a fast-track route… just a foundation.

Britain needs leaders of integrity, service, and resolve. Our veterans embody those traits. But in our haste to celebrate them, we must not sacrifice due diligence. Not all readiness is visible in uniform and not all leadership is transferable without translation. So let’s give our veterans space to re-enter civilian life, to process their experiences, and to build a new kind of readiness. Not as warriors, but as statespeople. Not just with medals on their chest, but with policies in their portfolio. Because while the British public trusts its veterans, that trust must be matched by preparation, not merely potential.

Lets not forget that even Churchill had to lose a few elections before he won a nation.

Tony Wright CEO Forward Assist