There are, in almost each year, elections. They are at all tiers of politics and include:

• Local (parish/community councils, town and borough, unitary authorities, mayoral, combined authorities)
• Police and Crime Commissioners (PCC)
• Mayoral
• Westminster (MPs). There are 650 constituencies/seats in Westminster
• Scottish Parliament (MSPs), Welsh Parliament (MSs), Northern Ireland Legislative Assembly (MLAs). Scottish Parliament and Welsh Parliament follow the first-past-the- post system for constituency seats, but the D'Hondt method for “regional” seats. Respectively, they have 73 constituencies and 129 seats, and 40 constituencies and 60 seats (this is to rise to 90 seats). There are 18 constituencies and 90 seats in the NILA.

The following years will see the following elections:

2024 May PCC & mayoral

2024 4^th July  General Election

2026 May MSPs, MSs, MLAs

There can also be by-elections, which are held to fill vacancies which arise before the end of the legislative term. Again, these can be at all levels of politics and in all countries.

A full timetable can be found on the gov.uk website.

SSAFA staff (“employee” in this context means paid or unpaid) hold political opinions or do not. They support a particular party or do not. Vote or do note vote. Some will be candidates or already elected. How, why, if they vote is their business. If they are already or in the future elected, then great.

But SSAFA is impartial and apolitical. It does not lobby, it does not campaign. Although on occasion it has given evidence in Parliament based on experience not policy, it does not produce, as do some other charities, a manifesto, but its staff do engage with politicians, and this is of some importance in the coming months.

While SSAFA  and its employees  must be careful to avoid being seen as biased or favouring a party or candidate, this does not mean that they cannot meet with candidates. What is important is that SSAFA/ employees provide the same opportunities to every candidate regardless of their party.

This becomes difficult if, say, an employee is standing to be a candidate. Should the employee remove any reference to his or her association with SSAFA? Well, ask if one would remove reference if associated with Guide Dogs UK, Refuge, The Trussell Trust, etc.

Of course, the answer is “no”. Being involved in a charity shows commitment to a community and generally an interest in what can broadly be termed social justice, and as such should be mentioned.

Employees, however, must not let anyone misconstrue that what they say is SSAFA policy. Be careful, too, of speaking to a candidate or journalist “off the record”, because in practice, there is no such thing as “off the record”.

For example, many within SSAFA would think that the government (whichever party) should do more to support veterans. But a candidate (or journalist) asking the seemingly innocent question “Should more be done to help veterans?” with the SSAFA response “Yes” could see that twisted to the catchy headline “SSAFA condemns Tory/Labour/SNP government for failing our heroes”.

Similarly, stories of poor housing for service personnel are rife. SSAFA supports serving personnel but is also a beneficiary of military accommodation providers, including some making the news. A SSAFA employee asked: “What problems do serving personnel tell you about their Annington MoD accommodation?” could see their response twisted to: “SSAFA blasts government over poor military housing, but still takes money from Annington”.

SSAFA volunteers and employees regularly engage with politicians (at all levels) and their

staff. This is to be welcomed, as it offers SSAFA an opportunity to inform and even informally influence politicians not just about the charity and its work, but also the unique challenges facing the Armed Forces community.

SSAFA volunteers take part in events (including Remembrance Day parades or Armed Forces’ Day) with politicians, SSAFA branches or services (for example Glasgow’s HelpingHeroes [Glasgow Times news article]) are routinely visited by politicians, too. Again, this is perfectly acceptable and is to be encouraged.

When there is no election in prospect, SSAFA benefits from the recognition provided and awareness raised by this political engagement. The politicians, reciprocally, are rewarded.

However, in an election time, engagement from/with politicians’ benefits  and this sounds cynical  the politician alone. Be aware of this, because a SSAFA employee’s actions could be taken, intentionally or unintentionally, as an endorsement of that candidate, that party, or that cause.

In a recent joint statement, the Charity Commission and Electoral Commission state: “Charities must also remain independent and must not give their support to a political party.”

This should be extended to say “… charities must also not risk being seen to give their support to a political party.”

But they do, and often not deliberately, but with the ubiquitousness of phones with cameras and the use of social media, an innocent photo can be taken, cropped, edited, and shared in 15 seconds. Recording and editing a video or voice clip takes longer, but it is still a risk and no amount of requesting an image be retracted will help.

This can be especially important at a hustings. A hustings is a form of interview or debate for candidates. Members of the public can ask candidates questions. People now routinely record these on digital devices and you, as a member of the audience or asking a question, might be included. Local media might also attend and report.

The manifestos, electioneering leaflets, and websites of politicians, or more accurately candidates, tend to be filled with a “Quality Street” selection of images of many causes. Not least among these, especially if the candidate is in a militarily heavy area, will be the Armed Forces and organisations that support them.

Very simply, if in a work capacity a staff member meets with a candidate and is asked to pose for a photo, tell the candidate that the image must not be used in any electioneering material.

If a SSAFA employee finds that an image has been used in any campaign material, then please contact us so that it can be removed/the material destroyed. Please note that other candidates/agents/parties will examine their opponents’ material and routinely complain of bias to those organisations if they appear in candidates’ communications.

More on photography follows.

“Nationalist”, however, does not just refer to those who want independence from the UK for their nations, and this leads on to the vexing issue of flags

The Union Flag is familiar to all and instils a sense of pride. Anyone with service in UK Armed Forces will at some time have worn it on their shoulder and vehicle, ship, or aircraft.

The Conservatives and Labour feature it prominently in their campaigns. However, for many years, it and even more so the flag of the Cross of St George has been viewed in a negative light. They have been adopted by various groups (call them far right, white nationalist, populist, populist radical right, anti-immigrant… the list goes on) and have occasionally drawn scorn or worse from politicians (BBC news article) and groups.

It has the potential to be an extremely tricky situation if the image is taken out of context, and one that requires equally extreme diligence on the part of those in the photo.

And if that is not a difficult situation to manage, then take the Red Hand of Ulster flag. The Catholic community in Northern Ireland tends to view it as a representation of the nine counties of Ulster while the Protestant community views it generally as representing the six counties of Northern Ireland.

The possibilities for confusion and offence are limitless.

If in doubt, think: “Could a SSAFA employee being in a photo with a flag harm the charity’s reputation?”, and if the answer is “Yes”, then exercise caution.

NB Appear with the Saltire or the Welsh flag and everyone is quite happy!

To sum up, SSAFA employee can and should engage with politicians and candidates but should always be cautious. If your branch or division, or service, is approached to meet or chat, then please do but let the PR team know (contact details at top and below) and provide the following details:

• Location
• Name of candidate Name of agent
• Party
• Their telephone number/email Date of proposed visit
• Branch/service employee to be present