James Clark – Executive Director and co-founder
James co-founded Conservative Friends of the Armed Forces in 2019. He served from 2009 – 2015 as a Regular Infantry Officer in the Mercian Regiment. He conducted two tours of Afghanistan (one of which was featured in BBC Our War). Since leaving the Regular Army James has been a Reserve Officer with the London Regiment.
James worked in Parliament and and CCHQ prior to his military career. In 2016 he was elected Lewisham & Deptford Conservative Association Chairman and stood for local council twice. In 2017 and again in 2019 he stood as the Conservative Candidate in Islington North against Jeremy Corbyn. Contact: info@cfarmedforces.org
Sarah Atherton MP – Parliamentary Lead
Sarah was elected as the first Conservative MP for Wrexham in the 2019 General Election, and the first Conservative woman to be declared as a Welsh MP. She is currently the only sitting female MP to have served in the regular Army, and sits on the Defence Select Committee. After leaving school, Sarah served in the Intelligence Corps and then went on to be a nurse, social worker and own a small business. Contact: sarah.atherton.mp@parliament.uk
Maurice Corry MSP – Scottish Parliamentary Lead
Maurice served in the British Army for 37 years having served in 51st Highland Volunteers. He was transferred to the Black Watch in 1995 before ending his military career in the Royal Regiment of Scotland in 2009. He has represented the West Scotland Region in parliament since 2016 and is the Conservative’s spokesman for Veterans Affairs. Contact: Maurice.Corry.msp@parliament.scot
Ed McGuinness – Operations Lead
Ed was selected to attend the prestigious Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and commissioned into the Artillery in 2012 deploying to Afghanistan in 2014. Following his military service Ed became active in Conservative Party politics and in February 2019 was elected Chairman of Islington Conservatives and selected as the Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for Hornsey & Wood Green at the 2019 General Election . Ed now lives in Wandsworth, is President of Conservatives in the City, Head of Events at Conservative Progress and co-Chairman of the International Cultural Youth Exchange – UK charity. Contact: operations@cfarmedforces.org
William Hall – Policy Lead
William Hall is Deputy Chairman of South Oxfordshire Conservatives and a former Councillor. His career has included working for businesses and charities on large, complex infrastructure projects; defence issues; and education policy. William has appeared on numerous media outlets including the Daily Politics, a live interview with Huw Edwards, Sky News and BBC Radio. Contact: policy@cfarmedforces.org
Lewis Feilder – Strategy Lead
Lewis works as a management consultant in defence and national security. He has worked as a strategic adviser to the Armed Forces for a decade and is passionate about the security of our country. He was Deputy Chairman of Cheltenham Conservatives and has stood for election to borough and county councils. Lewis is on the parliamentary candidates’ list and is one of the party’s Treasurer’s Ambassadors. He grew up in Hampshire and now lives in London. Contact: strategy@cfarmedforces.org
Nic Clark – Advocacy Lead
Nic joined the Army Reserve in 2011 and served on overseas operations in Sierra Leone during the 2014 Ebola epidemic (Op GRITROCK) and Iraq in the fight against Daesh (Op SHADER) in 2020. Active in the Conservative Party since 2009, Nic worked in Parliament and CCHQ from 2009 to 2013 whilst also undertaking the role of London CF Chairman. He stood for local council in 2010. He was Deputy Chairman of the Islington Conservatives Federation 2015-2016 and was seconded to No 10 during the 2017 General Election campaign. He co-founded Conservative Friends of the Armed Forces with James Clark in 2019. Since 2017 Nic has worked for the defence company Saab, where he is the Head of Corporate Affairs, in his role prior to this he advised military charities The Officers’ Association and Combat Stress. Contact: advocacy@cfarmedforces.org
Mark Edwards – Candidates Lead
Mark Edwards currently works in Parliament as a Researcher for a Conservative MP. Prior to working in politics, Mark studied Geography and Modern History at the University of St Andrews, from where he graduated in June 2020, with a year studying abroad at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. During his time at University, he was involved with a number of political organisations. Coming from a family with military links and growing up near Salisbury, Wiltshire, he also has a long history of interest in military and defence affairs.Email: candidates@cfarmedforces.org
Bailey Nash-Gardner and Salvatore Pagdades – Social Media Leads
Bailey is a passionate Young Conservative who first turned to politics in 2016. Joining the Conservative Party in January last year his since become an enthusiastic campaigner. Salvatore is a branch deputy chair in Hertford and Stortford, is a student and a passionate Conservative Party member. Email: candidates@cfarmedforces.org
Wider Team Appreciation
With huge thanks to Alice Hopkin, Dr Rabinder Sohil, Tony Heath and all of the other supporters, donors and friends who have helped the organisation on its journey so far.
