"Duracell Bunny" Tom Tugendhat Strives To Show He's More Than Just The "Posh" One Nation Tory

A British-French dual national, a Roman Catholic with Jewish ancestry who studied Islamic theology at university, Tom Tugendhat is many things to all people.

The former security minister is firmly marked as a One Nation candidate, but has been branching out to find support, even if most is outside of Parliament.

Tom Tugendhat, 51, was born to French mother Blandine de Loisne and British father Sir Michael, an eminent High Court judge now retired. His uncle Christopher was a former Conservative MP and European commissioner, now sitting in the Lords. Tugendhat, it’s safe to say, is from classic Tory stock.

His paternal grandfather came to the UK from Vienna to study, converting from Judaism to Catholicism when he married. It wasn’t until Tugendhat entered Parliament, after experiencing questioning of his surname, that he really considered himself Jewish.

Growing up in London and Sellindge in Kent, he attended top private school St Paul’s in the capital, and went on to study theology at Bristol University, followed by a master’s degree in Islamic studies at Cambridge, which included learning Arabic in Yemen.

Tugendhat then lived in Beirut, working as a journalist, setting up a public relations firm, before returning to London to work in management consultancy. After that he joined the Territorial Army, becoming a member of the Intelligence Corps – thanks to his Arabic – in time to go to Iraq with the Royal Marines in 2003, by which time he was 30. He received an MBE for his efforts. Working as a Foreign Office diplomat in Afghanistan, he went on to support the then chief of defence staff Lord (David) Richards as his military assistant. It was in Afghanistan that he met and befriended a future fellow MP, although on the