Reform UK name Rear Admiral as candidate for mayor

Reform UK has chosen a former senior Royal Navy officer as its candidate for the Hampshire and Solent mayoral contest.

Rear Admiral Dr Chris Parry was an aviator and warfare officer. He served in the Royal Navy for over 30 years.

Dr Parry, who has lived and worked in Portsmouth all his life, said he was "honoured to be standing," and added "I have fought for our country and will fight for Hampshire, the Isle of Wight and the Solent".

Elections for the mayor for Hampshire and the Solent are expected to take place in May 2026. Whoever is chosen will lead a new strategic combined authority.

Mr Parry said: "I'm an ordinary person who is entering politics because I care deeply about our region, my neighbours and the good people with whom I share my life."

He added: "Unfortunately, central government is punishing regions like ours, while local politics fails to deliver public services efficiently and doesn't have the ambition or appetite to build for the future in a fast-changing, complex world.

"I'm standing to change that by injecting fresh approaches and new solutions based on my experience of delivering high-achieving results at national and international levels in the most demanding circumstances."

His career in the Royal Navy saw him command aviation flights, a destroyer, an amphibious assault ship, the UK's Amphibious Task Group, and the Maritime Warfare Centre.

He saw active combat in the Falklands War disabling an enemy submarine and rescuing 16 SAS troopers from a glacier.

He also served on missions in the North Atlantic, the Indo-Pacific, Northern Ireland and the Gulf.

The other candidates who are standing are:

Donna Jones, the current police and crime commissioner for Hampshire and the Isle of Wight has been selected as the Conservatives' candidate.

Councillor Lorna Fielker, former leader of Southampton City Council, is standing for Labour.

Martin Tod, the leader of Winchester City Council is standing for the Liberal Democrats.

The Green party candidate is Anna Collar, an archaeologist living in Lyndhurst who works as an associate professor at the University of Southampton.