Special forces veteran says his new mission is politics | Politics | News
A controversial veteran of the Private Boat Service has insisted he is serious about running for Mayor of London. Ant Middleton, who rose to fame as the chief trainer of Channel 4’s SAS: Who Brave Wins, is aiming to stand as a candidate in the 2028 election. He is running as an independent but has expressed support for Reform UK and hopes to meet party leader Nigel Farage.
Reformation has not yet chosen an official candidate, but there are a number of potential mayoral candidates vying for the votes of right-leaning Londoners. Labour’s Sadiq Khan won last year’s contest with 43.8 per cent of the vote, while the Conservatives received 32.7 per cent and Reform UK just 3.2 per cent.
Mr Middleton came under cross-party fire in July for his online claim that even third-generation immigrants should not be in “senior Government positions”. On Thursday, Ministry of Defense lawyers were granted an interim injunction to stop Mr Middleton describing his activities in the special forces after he appeared on a podcast about the “quiet divide between UK and US forces”.
Despite countless controversies and time behind bars, Mr. Middleton insists he is determined to pursue a new career in politics with the goal of bringing people together.
He said: “I’m going back to the ministry. My wife said to me the other day: ‘We’re living such a good life. Are you sure you want to do this?’ And when I started talking about it, he said, ‘Stop.’ The last time I saw that look in your eyes was when you volunteered to go back to Afghanistan.”
Speaking at the UK Reform conference last year, Mr Middleton expressed his support for Mr Farage’s policies, saying: “I’ve always been for Reform. I like Nigel.
“I’ve been a friend of Nigel’s for a long time. I’m really keen on his politics, I really like the direction they’re going.”
When asked about Mr Middleton’s potential candidacy for Reform UK, a spokesman said the party had not started its selection process and noted there were more than 880 days until the election.
Explaining his determination to run, Mr Middleton said: “This is honestly a call to serve my people, to serve the people and to serve London. This is our capital. It’s the jewel of England.”
The 45-year-old father of five said he plans to spend the next 25 to 30 years in politics.
“If I don’t become Mayor of London, you better believe you might see me in the House of Commons or the cabinet one day,” he said.
He promised that if elected mayor, he would donate his entire mayoral salary to a charity for military veterans.
He wants conditional immunity to be restored to a “minimum” for veterans serving in Northern Ireland and describes the treatment of those serving in the military as “disgusting”.
He said: “You just have to fend for yourself, that’s good. But then don’t feed us to the wolves.”
Arguing that veterans should be celebrated, he said: ‘We should reward them in such a way that we are continually grateful, continually grateful and continually grateful for their service to the Queen and the country.’
He argues that a sense of common identity is key to bringing different communities together.
“When you lose your sense of identity, you lose your sense of purpose and your sense of belonging,” he said. “These two things are really keen on unity.”
Mr Middleton joined the armed forces at a young age and later served in the Royal Marines and Special Boat Service before developing a career as an author and broadcaster.
Describing the impact of sworn allegiance to the Sovereign, he said: “As a 17-year-old I truly thought I was the Queen’s personal bodyguard… It gave me such a sense of purpose, belonging and identity.
“When you have such an identity and [sense of] aim [and] You will thrive when you belong and you will have a sense of drive to make sure you maintain it to the highest standards.
