Mike Martin is the Liberal Democrat MP for Tunbridge Wells, having first been elected to parliament at the 2024 general election.

In the 2024 general election, Martin won 23,661 votes, representing 43.6% of the vote. The Conservative candidate, Neil Mahapatra, received 14,974 votes (27.6%), while the Reform UK candidate, John Gager, secured 6,484 votes (12.0%). Martin was duly elected with a majority of 8,687.

The Tunbridge Wells constituency is located in Kent, in the South East of England. The seat, and its predecessor Tonbridge, was held continuously by the Conservative Party from 1918 to 2024 election.

Martin’s immediate predecessor as the MP for Tunbridge Wells was Greg Clark of the Conservative. Clark, a former cabinet minister who stood down in 2024, held the seat from 2005 to 2024.

Political Career

Martin is a member of the House of Commons defence select committee (since October 2024) – the committee responsible for monitoring the expenditure, administration and policy of the Ministry of Defence (MOD) and its associated public bodies. The committee’s remit includes oversight of the British Armed Forces.

Martin is also a member of the joint committee on national security strategy (since November 2024).

In April 2025, Martin was among the group of MPs placed on a sanctions list by the Russian government. The measure barred them from entering Russia and was presented by Moscow as a retaliatory response to the UK’s stance on the invasion of Ukraine.

In March 2025, Martin participated in a Westminster Hall debate on a public petition calling for the United Kingdom to rejoin the European Union as a full member. The debate was triggered by an e-petition signed by over 128,000 people.

In the debate, Martin pointed to the Office for Budget Responsibility’s forecast that Brexit shrunk the UK economy by 4%.

He said: “Small business owners I speak to in my community of Tunbridge Wells are absolutely appalled by Brexit. No matter what their small business is – whether they sell books, grow and export apples, or make art – Brexit has been a disaster.”

Martin is listed as a member of the all-party parliamentary group (APPG) for rearmament (chair) and the armed forces community.

Martin delivered his maiden speech on 2 September 2024 during a debate on technology in the public service. In it, he said: “The state of the UK military is dire. We have an army that cannot deploy a division, an air force that cannot defend its own airfields and a navy that cannot crew its own ships, and sitting above that concerning situation is a hole where British strategy should sit.

“I stand here as someone who spent two years at the sharp end of British strategy in Afghanistan, and I can tell you, Madam Deputy Speaker, that when you are fighting a war at that level and bullets are flying and people are dying, it breaks you when the country that has sent you there does not have a strategy.

“This is a non-partisan point because all three main parties, including my own, sat in government during the period that we were in Afghanistan.”

He added: “What happened in Afghanistan is not unique in British foreign policy. We have not really had a clear strategy for 30 years.”

Political Views

The Liberal Democrats (or Lib Dems) are a liberal political party, occupying the centre to centre-left ground in British politics.

The preamble to the Lib Dem constitution begins: “The Liberal Democrats exist to build and safeguard a fair, free and open society, in which we seek to balance the fundamental values of liberty, equality and community, and in which no-one shall be enslaved by poverty, ignorance or conformity.”

The Liberal Democrat autumn conference in 2021 ratified a policy paper entitled What Liberal Democrats Believe. The paper, an attempt to expand on the constitution’s preamble, was framed around seven “principles and values”.

The party’s core values were described as “liberty, equality, democracy, community, internationalism and environmentalism.”

Martin identifies as an internationalist, “pro-European”, “a bit right wing economically”, “explicitly pro-green” and strong on defence.

Martin was endorsed by local groups of the cross-party organisation Compass during the 2024 general election. Compass is a thinktank and campaign group. As part of its “Win as One” campaign in the 2024 election, local Compass groups backed a slate of progressive candidates who had pledged their support for electoral reform. The central aim of the initiative was to elect a “caucus” of MPs who would champion the cause of replacing the first past the post electoral system.

Brexit and Europe

Customs union vote (2025): In December 2025, Martin voted in favour of the UK-EU Customs Union (Duty to Negotiate) Bill. The bill, introduced under the 10-minute rule procedure by Liberal Democrat Europe spokesperson Al Pinkerton, sought to mandate the government to enter into negotiations with the European Union to establish a bespoke customs union. In total, 13 Labour MPs joined the Liberal Democrats in supporting the motion, while the majority of the party abstained.

Electoral reform

Proportional representation bill: In December 2024, Martin voted in favour of the Elections (Proportional Representation) Bill – introduced by Liberal Democrat frontbencher Sarah Olney under the 10-minute rule procedure. The bill sought to “introduce a system of proportional representation for parliamentary elections and for local government elections in England”.

A total of 138 MPs supported the bill – with 136 opposed. Notably, 59 Labour MPs backed Olney’s bill.

Introducing the bill, Olney told the House: “First past the post is a broken and unfair system. This summer, the Labour party won a landslide election victory, securing 63% of seats in the House of Commons in return for just 34% of the vote.

“The system leaves millions of voices unheard and creates a divisive, adversarial political climate where collaboration is discouraged and accountability is often sidestepped.”

Assisted dying

Martin voted in favour of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, better known as the assisted dying bill, at both second reading (November 2024) and third reading (June 2025).

Social values and conscience issues

Martin was one of the 38 Liberal Democrat MPs who voted for the Tobacco and Vapes Act 2026 at its House of Commons third reading.

Abortion decriminalisation (2025): Martin voted in favour of a backbench amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill that sought to decriminalise abortion in England and Wales in June 2025. The amendment, which was passed by a majority of 242 votes, removed women from the threat of prosecution for ending a pregnancy at any stage. As an issue of conscience, MPs were allowed to vote according to their personal beliefs.

Before Politics

Martin studied biological sciences at the university of Oxford. He holds a PhD in war studies from King’s College London (completed in 2013).

His doctoral thesis was an oral history of the conflict in Helmand province, Afghanistan. It was entitled War on its Head: An Oral History of the Helmandi Conflict 1978-2012.

Martin served in the British Army from 2004 to 2014, commissioned initially into the Territorial Army and later serving with the Royal Yeomanry and the Intelligence Corps, reaching the rank of captain. He served multiple tours in Helmand Province, Afghanistan.

Martin resigned his commission in 2014 following a dispute with the Ministry of Defence over the publication of his critical book, An Intimate War, about the war.

Martin is the author of several books on conflict, psychology and travel, including Why We Fight (2018), How to Fight a War (2023) and Crossing the Congo (2016).

Personal Life

Martin is married.

Trivia

Martin is the first non-Conservative MP to represent Tunbridge Wells since the constituency’s creation in 1974.

He is fluent in Pashto.