Yahoo News Ex-Marine pledges to put life on line for people of Selly Oak after Labour 'posting'
If you're looking for someone to cower behind in a fight, Al Carns is your man. At 6ft 2ins, his formidable frame topped with a shock of white hair, he's a Royal Marine veteran of war zones across the world and was awarded the Military Cross for bravery in combat against the Taliban.
Now he's on the more sedate battleground of Selly Oak, where flytippers and rogue landlords are the enemy. He's vying to become the constituency's next MP on July 4th.
Carns, 44, a dad of three, is the first to admit he's a stranger to these parts, and not everyone is happy about that. But he's one of 14 ex-forces veterans drafted in by Keir Starmer this election, in preference to local party stalwarts.
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The Labour leader wants Carns and the rest of the so-called 'Starmertroopers' to bring their discipline, courage and campaigning nous into the House of Commons and, indirectly, help assure the nation that a Labour government would keep us safe in these tumultuous times. How better to illustrate that commitment than by swelling the ranks with ex military heroes like Carns, who've proven they are willing to die for their country?
Carns, in his first interview with BirminghamLive, takes me on a short walk around Billesley Common, close to Moseley Rugby Club. He's been running a lot around the constituency, and this is a trail he enjoys.
Thankfully he's happy to join me on a bench rather than the trim track, and he sets out his life's journey. He is modest about his military achievements but they are worthy of a boast. Rising from entry level Royal Marine to Colonel, with the role of 1-star Brigadier General offered to him just before he quit, is far from an easy feat. He would have been the youngest to hold the title had he stayed on. Nor is winning a Military Cross for bravery, one of the highest honours in the country, an easy thing to achieve.
But he doesn't want to discuss the reasons for his award just yet. Carns is a wary interviewee, used to keeping information close to his chest, and though he talks openly, he gives little away.
He first began to consider a political role while serving as a military adviser in Whitehall, assisting three Defence Secretaries on attachment. It gave him a peep inside the Government machine, and later a sense that he wanted to shape policy, not just be a conduit of it.
"My life has been about always feeling I have a duty to serve," said Carns. "The reason I came out of the military now, to focus on politics, was so I could offer my energy and focus to a broader church, at local and national level.
"The dedication and time I have put in to the military I will put into this job, locally and nationally," he pledged. On that basis, it wouldn't be a surprise to see him among Starmer's team of ministers at some point, assuming Labour win power.
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Carns is standing on the party's Manifesto but otherwise his political views are hard to discern, in part because he needed to be apolitical for so long as a military leader, while the security issues that accompany his role meant he had no social media profile until now, and no history of campaigning or lobbying.
Asked about the values that drive him on and inspired him to consider being an MP, he refers again to service and a desire to ensure equal opportunity. “There is a definitely an increasing divide between those who have the opportunity and those who don’t. I believe Labour is the party that can try and bridge that. And there is no reason why one can’t try as much as possible to end social deprivation, and also remain strong on national security,” he says.
On whether he would want to see universal free school meals, for example, or a lift of the two child benefit cap, or whether he would follow his predecessor Steve McCabe and join Labour Friends of Israel, he appears unwilling as yet to commit to anything until he has heard from local people about their priorities.
"I am listening, and learning, from constituents and the wonderful people I'm meeting every day, and together, if I get elected, we will take things forward." On Gaza, he says he believe Labour's position now is 100% clear on wanting a permanent ceasefire, no offensive in Rafa and more aid to ease the humanitarian crisis. He also wants more of our attention to turn back to Ukraine too and not overlook it.
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Raised in Aberdeen, the son of parents who worked in the oil industry but also had periods out of work, he describes his upbringing as 'relatively humble'. He attended state school and a local college before joining the Royal Marines, aged 19.
He says of that time: "I was attracted by the sense of duty and adventure, it gave me a sense of belonging and service. I was full of energy and passion and the Marines gave me so many opportunities."
He said his ambition was triggered when a stickler officer on a room inspection called him out for dust on the windowsill. "It's not like on the movies, room inspections are welfare checks really, a chance to lift people up, and he left me feeling deflated and discouraged. I remember thinking I would have dealt with it differently, and soon after I applied to become an officer."
That meant a second round of intensive commando training, followed by specialising in mountain leadership. From 2001 onwards he took part in conflicts across the world that had burst into open warfare. Carns went on to serve four tours of Afghanistan, where he received multiple honours for bravery, and has been in a leadership role in every major conflict of the last two decades.
In 2022 he received the OBE for exceptional operational service.
Asked if his military life meant he would be a 'yes man' to party leaders, he laughed as he suggested I ask his ex colleagues about that. No, is the quicker answer. He pledged that he would be an MP who put 'people and place before party'.
His tours of the constituency this month have taken him to 'thousands' of doors, from the main cemetery to meet volunteers keeping graves tidy, to the Druids Heath tower blocks, from Bournville to Moseley Rugby Club, and he said he has been blown away by the commitment to community shown by so many residents. "It is genuinely humbling to see how people are working together to lift up the area and make a difference."
But the lack of connection to Birmingham has been a point of contention among some party members.
There was a hint of a conspiracy theory, as the window to apply to stand as a Labour candidate at this election, in a specific seat, closed at noon on May 28th - and within a few hours of that deadline, sitting MP Steve McCabe suddenly announced he was going to retire. It meant the normal rules about selecting a successor and giving party members a say were suspended - leading to Carns being 'parachuted in' by the National Executive Committee.
My final query before we go our separate ways is to ask Carns if this is just another 'posting' to him, one of many he must have had in his life. For the first time in our interview, his calm demeanour is stirred. He fired out a response: "A posting is something special - the difference between a posting and any other job is that you don't just put your life and soul into a posting, you risk your heart and soul for it. You are expected to put your life on the line and die for your country - so when you talk about this as a posting, what you will get from me is my total commitment. That is my answer."
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Also standing in Selly Oak are:
Simon Phipps - Conservatives
Kamel Hawwash - Independent
Dave Radcliffe - Liberal Democrats
Erin Crawford - Reform UK
Jane Baston - Green Party
