CF Armed Forces

Our guest on this month's podcast is Richard Holroyd, the Managing Director for Capita’s Defence, Fire and Security sector where he leads a team of approximately 2500 people operating across Defence Fire and Rescue, Royal Navy training, Army recruitment and consulting. Prior to this he worked in senior positions for Centrica, the MOD and BT following his 23 years of service as an officer in the British Army.   As usual this podcast is hosted by CF Armed Forces Executive Director James Clark. For more information head to www.cfarmedforces.org  We hope you enjoy this episode.

Our guests on this month's podcast are leadership candidates RT Hon Liz Truss MP and Rishi Sunk MP.  Both candidates were asked the same questions over the weekend of 30th/31st July. Our first guest is the Foreign Secretary, the Right Honourable Lizz Truss. She’s the MP for South West Norfolk and has been since 2010 and is the longest serving cabinet member in government. She has held portfolios in education, DEFRA, Justice and the Treasury. She is also the Minister for Women and Equalities. Our second guest is the former chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak MP. He was elected to the seat of Richmond in 2015 and previously held positions in the Treasury and MHCLG. A huge thank you to both of our guests for giving up their valuable time to speak to our members and friends on this month’s podcast. For more information on the leadership hustings and how to vote please go to www.conservatives.com.  For more information on CF Armed Forces please go to www.cfarmedforces.org

Our guest on this month’s podcast is Sir Mike Penning MP.  Sir Mike’s ministerial career has spanned multiple departments including Health, Transport, Northern Ireland, Justice, the Home Office and the MOD. He was most recently Minister for the Armed Forces from 2016-2017. He has also represented the constituency of Hemel Hempstead in Hertfordshire throughout his tenure in parliament.  Prior to winning the seat, he was a Grenadier Guardsman, firefighter, political journalist and media adviser to CCHQ and various Party leaders.  He is currently the Conservative Party Vice Chair for Candidates.

We have two guests on this month’s podcasts Armida van Rij, a research fellow with the International Security Programme at Chatham House and George Barnes, a member of CF Armed Forces with a military background. Armida van Rij Armida is a research fellow with the International Security Programme at Chatham House, working on issues relating to conflict, security policy and humanitarian policy. Before joining Chatham House in 2021, she worked as a research associate with the Policy Institute at King’s College London, where she lead the Institute’s work on international security, and with the EU Delegation to Myanmar. Armida is keen for any women involved in International Security who listen to the podcast to take a look at: https://www.wiisuk.org George Barnes George Barnes commissioned into the Grenadier Guards, completing operational tours to both Iraq and Afghanistan. He also spent several months in London on State Ceremonial duties, taking part in a wide variety of national events including Trooping the Colour, the Changing of the Guard, and the Chinese State Visit in 2015. Along with overseas training exercises to both Kenya and the Falklands, George has definitely come to experience the wide range of tasks undertaken by our Army today. He’s a CF Armed Forces Member and also a member of our Candidate Training Wing. For more information please go to www.cfarmedforces.org

In our February episode we are joined by Rt Hon Mark Francois MP. He talks about his military background, his work as a Minister in the MoD and talks about his new book "Spartan Victory" (available on amazon here). For more information please go to www.cfarmedfores.org

On this month’s podcast we hear from our Parliamentary Patron Sarah Atherton MP for Wrexham For more information please go to www.cfarmedfores.org

On this month’s podcast we hear from the contributors to the CF Armed Forces Policy Pamphlet 2021 as they discuss their submissions and some of the wider Defence issues currently facing the UK. The panel consisted of: Host/Chair: James Clark, Executive Director CF Armed Forces Panellist 1: Natasha Hausdorff, Barrister, Six Pump Court Chambers Panellist 2: Christopher Williams, Senior HR Adviser Panellist 3: Ben McClean, Strategy and Operations Analyst, Deloitte Panellist 4: Carl Hunter OBE, Chairman, Coltraco Ultrasonics Ltd Panellist 5: Ed McGuiness, Financial Markets Analyst, Financial Services Panellist 6: William Hall, Policy Lead, CF Armed Forces Panellist 7: Ryan Henson, Chief Executive, Coalition for Global Prosperity For more information please go to www.cfarmedfores.org

On this month’s podcast we hear from Shane Mason, former Royal Navy rating and defence industry executive and we hear from Secretary of State for Defence Ben Wallace MP as he discusses the Integrated Review at Conservative Spring Conference. Our first guest is Shane Mason. Shane joined the Royal Navy in 2003 as a Gunner, serving four years and has since had a meteoric rise in defence taking on major responsibilities such as Leading T4X for BAE Systems and now as Head of Strategy for Defence Systems & Technology within Babcock International, even finding time for an MBA, sponsored by his MoD learning credits. He’s been a supporter of CF Armed Forces from its inception and talks about technology, strategy and the Integrated Review. Our second part of the podcast is a recording of the Secretary of State for Defence, Ben Wallace MP joining the host James Clark, Executive Director of CF Armed Forces for a discussion on the Integrated Review from Conservative Spring Conference held on the 27th March 2021. For more information about our events and organisation please go to: www.cfarmedforces.org

On this Month’s podcast we are joined by Sir Charles Walker Member of parliament for Broxbourne, Leila Bousbaa from the Coalition for Global Prosperity and Tom Tugendhat Member of Parliament for Tonbridge and Malling. Our first guest is Sir Charles Walker MP. Sir Charles was elected to the House of Commons in May 2005 and represent the interests of Broxbourne in Parliament. Since being elected, he has been involved in numerous local campaigns and in particular has championed the issue of mental health. He was appointed an OBE in the 2015 New Year Honours for political service, and was appointed a KBE in 2019, for “political and public service". His Parliamentary record demonstrates that he is not afraid to tackle difficult or controversial issues. Our second guest is Leila Bousbaa. Leila is the Coalition for Global Prosperity's Senior Events Officer and has a background in international development and climate change campaigning. She previously worked at The Climate Coalition as a Campaign Executive, overseeing all member relationships and leading on aspects of big campaign moments. Prior to this, Leila worked at the Catholic Agency For Overseas Development as a Parliamentary Assistant, organising the annual parliamentary reception. Leila is extremely passionate about climate justice and global development. www.coalitionforglobalprosperity.com Our final guest is Tom Tugendhat MP. Col Tom is the MP for Tonbridge and Malling having been elected in 2015. He served in Iraq and Afghanistan as a Reservist and also in a civilian capacity for the Foreign Office. He later served as a military assistant to the Chief of the Defence Staff. In parliament Tom is Chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee and is the head of the China Research Group.

This month’s Conservative Friends of the Armed Forces podcast features two Members of Parliament both with Forces experience. Steve Baker has been the Member of Parliament for Wycombe. Following a career in the Royal Air Force, Steve moved into computer science working in senior roles in business software before being elected to Parliament in 2010 as the Member for Wycombe. He established the Cobden Centre, an educational charity and has been on the Transport and Treasury Select Committee. He was a vocal advocate for leaving the European Union. Flick Drummond is the Member of Parliament for Meon Valley. Flick was elected in 2019 and is currently PPS in the Department for Work and Pensions. From 2015 to 2017 she was the MP for Portsmouth South. She previously worked as an insurance broker, Ofsted lay school inspector and member of the Territorial Army Intelligence Corps. She has had a wide range of experience in public service and the voluntary sector. A huge thank you to each of them for joining us on this, our third episode. If you’d like to learn more or become a member please go to www.cfarmdeforces.org for more information.