Tom Tugendhat MBE VR MP

Veterans In Politics- Season 2, Episode 8  with  Tom Tugendhat MBE VR MP

In the last of this current series Jonny sits down with fellow Int Corps Reservist, linguist and veteran of Afghanistan (and other operations!) Tom Tugendhat.  Their chat is as you might imagine when two people from the same Corps family come together for a catch up and you're invited to listen in.

They cover the 'Big Society', Tom's observations of community kindness during Covid-19 and Jonny even has time to rib Tom for a social media picture of both him and Dan Jarvis MP (a previous guest of the show) currently doing the rounds on social media showing them on tour in Afghanistan with some dubious haircuts. This is a fantastic episode to round off the series and Tom was a fabulous guest, funny, observant and easy to talk to.

This podcast series maintains its independence and features several parties in this series.

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For more info on Tom go to: https://www.tomtugendhat.org/

About Tom (in his own words): 

I grew up in London and Sellinge, near Ashford, before going to read Theology at Bristol University where I also worked in the local homeless shelter in the St Paul’s area. I then studied for a Masters’ degree in Islamics at Cambridge University, which including learning Arabic in Yemen.

After graduating, I went to Beirut as a journalist where I wrote about the conflict as well as regional politics and economics. Soon after I established one of Lebanon’s first public relations companies and won some major international clients. When I returned to the UK I worked as a management consultant before going into energy analysis in the City. At about the same time I joined the TA.

When the Iraq War broke out in 2003, I was mobilised as an Arabic-speaking intelligence officer to serve with the Royal Marines.  After the war I returned to my job in the City, but was soon asked to help with the distribution of the New Iraqi Dinar as part of the economic reconstruction effort. Over the next six months I ran the central region – Baghdad and surrounding cities – and distributed much of the $4.5 billion-worth of cash that went into Iraq.

The next year I saw a series of projects conducted on behalf of the British government and companies including helping to improve Morocco's ports to ensure they were compliant with modern protocols. In 2005, I was asked by the Foreign Office to go to Afghanistan and help grow the National Security Council. Working in the Dari language, the project involved setting the strategic goals for a new office that coordinated Afghanistan’s strategic advice to President Karzai.  When one of the members of the National Security Council was named governor of Helmand Province, he asked for me to go with him as his adviser. Together, and this time working in Pashto, the language of southern Afghanistan, we set up the first non-warlord administration in Helmand since the Soviet invasion.

After two years in Afghanistan I returned to the UK, but my former Royal Marines unit was deploying to Helmand and asked me to go too. I mobilised and served operationally for a further two years, for which I received the MBE, coming off my last patrol in July 2009.

On returning to the UK, I was asked by th