Ex-GR Nav, Wg Cdr (Retd) Paul Smyth, to run for Parliament
 

Wg Cdr (Retd) Paul Smyth, current UKIP Councillor in Norfolk County Council for Swaffham and ex-Tornado GR1/4 Nav, has been selected by UKIP to run for Parliament in the 2015 elections against the current incumbent, the Secretary of State for DEFRA, Elizabeth Truss. Details here - UKIP pick councillor to take on Truss - Politics - Eastern Daily Press


Made me think, are there any other recently retired RAF officers in Parliament? I cannot think of any and, if elected, it would be good to see an ex-light blue officer in the House.


Good luck Paul :D

Having known Paul in the past his choice of UKIP surprises me a bit.

Elizabeth Truss seems on the face of it to have done a fair bit of good in her constituency, so she may be a tough one to oust.

Steve Baker, serving MP for High Wycombe is an ex RAF engineering officer, Tornado and Jaguar background.

Beats selling Big Macs...........

The staff at MaccyD tend to get more respect from Joe Public...

...and have more contact with us!

So ballast has other uses...

TdotEdot

This isn't quite what you were thinking of but Sir Clive Loader is PCC for Leicestershire.

I had dealings with Paul Smyth when he was at RUSI - as head of their OPRE Programme. He seems a good guy, but again, UKIP? Probably a better chance of getting in to Parliament, to be fair.

Edited to add: In today's Daily Heil: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...upporters.html

Most recent one I can recall is Keith Mans, who was a Tory MP from '87 to '97.

He'd been a Canberra and Vulcan driver (serving '67 to '77 IIRC), and subsequently was Chief Exec of RAeS.

Think he's now Chairman of the Air League.

Keith Mans was a cadet at the Towers, and I am currently in touch with one of his relatives regarding Children in Need at the kids' sailing club (Salterns) in Lymington. Small world.


Regarding the candidature of Paul Smyth for UKiP, I am reminded of the kid who told his dad that when he grew up he wanted to be a fighter pilot (probably applies to navigators too). His father told him to "make his mind up". cf UKiP - do you want to be a politician or represent UKiP. - members of UKiP will grow up sometime, and realise they are being sold a pig in a poke - but then they will find there is not even a pig! (IMHO and allegedly)

Supporters of the main parties seem to forget that under Lab/Con/Libs policy the country has been brought to its knees, socially and financially. UKIP have some different ideas which some of us think may work, they certainly can not do any more damage than previous cretins.

Perhaps it's time to dust off this thread:

http://www.pprune.org/military-aviat...eleased-2.html

Whenurhappy - thanks for the reminder - have re-read, and no more impressed as last time.


Capt Scribble and others - IMHO none of the UKiP policies stands up to scrutiny - what they do is pander to the biased prejudices of, mainly, tabloid readers. What the current Government has done, faster than some would have liked, is to address the deficit they inherited and address the global financial crisis caused partly by bankers and partly by governments that over-reached themselves then borrowed their way out of the consequences. There is another issue that appears not to have been addressed directly, but is evidenced by the slow growth in wages and salaries - before the crunch we, collectively and internationally were paying ourselves over the odds, the UK given its poor levels of productivity, way over the odds. Rant over!

Not having a go at Paul Smyth (who is a decent bloke) but a country run by UKIP would be like a country run by the local golf club or bowling club. Naivety mixed with xenophobia.

Sir Clive PCC for Leicester!!! I feel sorry for them.

I've flown with several navigators I would not trust, so I'm sure that one or two might have all the attributes to make an MP!

Jason McCartney MP is ex-RAF.

Ah, this must be the place for UKIP bashing for all those adherents to the three main parties ........

Golf or bowling clubs would normally run a balanced budget or the management sacked. The present crowd have hardly touched the deficit and have allowed the £700Bn Government debt run up by Brown to balloon to £1400Bn. Its still increasing at £5000 per second. Those with a narrow view of the world can not imagine anything but Lab Con failed policies. Its time for a change.