The Spectator magazine recently questioned the legality of seeking votes for any cause while wearing the Queen’s uniform. Letters followed, pointing out that soldiers who were candidates at the 1945 election campaigned in uniform. Alistair Lexden provided an earlier example in a letter published in the magazine on 25 June.
Sir: Officers were not reluctant to appear in uniform at elections after the First World War (letters, 18 June). The picture of retired Brigadier-General Sir Algernon Bewicke-Copley on his election address as Conservative candidate for Doncaster in 1922 shows him in full dress uniform, cocked hat and feathers. His election slogan was ‘We must not put up with slackers’. The Tory vote dropped sharply.
Alistair Lexden
House of Lords