Michael Peter Martin[1] is a British politician, author and former Army Reserve officer, who has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Tunbridge Wells since 2024. A member of the Liberal Democrats, he gained the seat vacated by Greg Clark, the Conservative MP who stood down at the 2024 election. Martin identifies as pro-European, internationalist, "explicitly pro-green", and as being in favour of a strong stance on defence.[2]
As of 2024, he is a senior visiting research fellow at King's College London.[3]
Martin’s first job was as a dishwasher in a hotel when he was 16 years old[5].
Military service
On 1 August 2004, Martin was commissioned into the General List of the Territorial Army as a second lieutenant (on probation).[6] On 26 November 2006, he transferred to the Royal Yeomanry.[7] His commission was confirmed on 26 November 2006 with seniority in the rank of second lieutenant from 26 November 2005.[8] He was promoted to lieutenant on 26 November 2007.[9] He was promoted to captain on 22 April 2010 with seniority from 15 June 2009.[10] He transferred to the Intelligence Corps on 19 August 2013.[11]
Martin worked as a Political Officer while serving on tour in the Helmand Province and dealt directly with the Taliban[12]. Martin was trained to fluency in Pushtu and created, designed, and implemented the British Military’s Cultural Advisor programme. The programme trained Pushtu-speaking British speaking officers to develop and leverage relationships with Afghan community leaders, including members of the Taliban. Martin also advised four UK commanders of the Task Force Helmand on local population dynamics[13].
While serving, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) commissioned Martin to write a PhD thesis on recent history and conflict in Helmand, Afghanistan. The MoD tried to block the publication of Martin’s critical account of British involvement, claiming that its publication was in breach of the Official Secrets Act. Martin resigned from his commission in 2014 so he could publish the full account in his book 'An intimate war: an oral history of the Helmand conflict, 1978-2012'[14].
Career
Risk management
After leaving the army, Martin became a research director, working for a risk management company in Somaliland and Myanmar (formerly Burma). During his tenure, he started up a new division that assisted multinational clientele to develop a strategy to navigate the political and cultural intricacies of emerging markets[3].
NGO management
Later, Martin worked for international NGO Common Purpose in senior global management positions for two years[3].
In 2013, Martin traversed the north-south crossing of the Congo River Basin alongside two friends in a D-reg Land Rover. Having completed the 2,500-mile journey between the Western capital Kinshasa to Juba in South Sudan, the group believes that they were the first to drive across the Democratic Republic of Congo independently in a car since 1960. They later wrote and published an account of their journey Crossing the Congo: over land and water in a hard place in which they described being imprisoned by Congolese soldiers, AK47s being pointed into their necks and avoiding kidnap from the Lord’s Resistance Army. They also had to build rafts to float their land rover across rivers[15][16].
Martin bought a sailing boat and travelled around the world with his now wife. They got married on the deck of the boat. While travelling, they shortly lived in Australia and Fiji during the global COVID-19 pandemic. Following the pandemic, they both returned to Martin’s wife’s hometown of Tunbridge Wells[12].
Political career
In February 2023, Martin was selected to be the Liberal Democrat candidate for Tunbridge Wells.[18] In the 2024 general election, he was elected as Member of Parliament (MP) for Tunbridge Wells with 43.6 per cent of the vote and a majority of 8,687 over the second-placed Conservative candidate.[19] The Labour candidate came fourth[20]. He was the first non-Conservative to win the constituency since it was first contested in February 1974 and the first non-Conservative to represent the town of Royal Tunbridge Wells in Parliament since 1910.
Parliamentary career
Martin is campaigning to improve local GP services, the town centre of Tunbridge Wells, as well as ensure there is sufficient infrastructure for new housing. He is also campaigning to increase Britain’s defence capabilities and believes that successive governments have failed in their defence and security strategies[21].
Martin made his maiden speech titled An Ode to Tunbridge Wells on the 3rd September 2024, in which he lauded the famous ability of ‘Tunbridge Wellians’ to write to newspaper letter pages with their views. He also spoke of the upcoming 2024 Subbuteo World Cup that was hosted in Tunbridge Wells. The popular tabletop football game was originally invented in his constituency and early production began in Langton Green[22][23][24].
Referring to his time as a former British Army Officer, Martin warned against Britain lacking a national geopolitical strategy and defence capabilities, and criticised successive British Governments for having “no strategy” during its War in Afghanistan[22].
Selected works
Martin, Mike (2014). An intimate war: an oral history of the Helmand conflict, 1978-2012. London: C Hurst & Company. ISBN978-1849043366.
Martin, Mike; Baker, Chloe; Hatch-Barnwell, Charlie (2016). Crossing the Congo: over land and water in a hard place. London: Hurst & Company. ISBN978-1849046855.
Martin, Mike (2018). Why we fight. London: Hurst & Company. ISBN978-1849048897.
Martin, Mike (2023). How to fight a war. London: Hurst & Company. ISBN978-1787389304.
↑ Martin, Mike; Baker, Chloe; Hatch-Barnwell, Charlie (23 March 2013). Crossing the Congo: Over Land and Water in a Hard Place. United Kingdom: C Hurst & Co Publishers Ltd (published 23 March 2023). ISBN9781787389625.
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