Ant Middleton has spent recent months presenting himself as the man to “fix London” as he pitches voters to elect him as its next mayor. Which is odd, because the former soldier and television personality does not live in the capital – or anywhere in the United Kingdom, come to that.
In fact, Middleton is now based in Dubai, where he relocated his family after selling his UK home.
Abandoned London
From there, 3,400 miles away from London, he issues vacuous pronouncements about crime, policing and leadership, positioning himself as the far right’s leading mayoral contender, even though the elections are over two years away.
The irony is hard to miss: a man who has abandoned London is now claiming that he is the best person to lead it.
And it’s not as though Middleton’s record is one of unblemished service to the nation.
Wounding conviction
In 2013 he was convicted of unlawfully wounding one Essex police officer and of committing common assault against another – the latter female. He received a 14‑month prison sentence, but served only four months before release.
For someone who now preaches the need for law and order, the contradiction is stark.
His troubles have not been confined to the criminal courts. Middleton’s business history is equally chequered.
A company he ran collapsed owing more than £1 million in unpaid tax, leading to a four‑year ban from acting as a company director.
More recently, the Ministry of Defence has pursued him in the High Court, alleging breach of contract after he disclosed sensitive details of his special forces service during a podcast.
Muscle man
By all accounts, Middleton had a fine record in the forces (Army, Marines and Special Boat Service). Since then, however, he appears to have been spending an inordinate amount of time pumping up in the gym and now comes across as a mass of muscle with little going on upstairs.
In 2020 he described Black Lives Matter protesters as “absolute scum” in a social media post, later deleting the remark and issuing an apology. He insisted he was anti‑racist and anti‑violence, but by then the damage was done.
Middleton’s political trajectory initially drew him closer to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK. At their annual conference in Birmingham in September 2024, he was a guest speaker.
Strip them down
From the stage he declared: “Britain is built on the values of Christianity. I do a TV show called SAS: Who Dares Wins, and I strip them down so they have an identity, and build them back up.
“How do I do that? I bring them into a camp. I close the border… and who can come in?
“Those that benefit the individuals, i.e. countrymen and women”.
On the brink
He warned delegates that the UK was on the brink of “civil unrest” unless British culture was put “at the forefront of everything”.
In fact, Middleton’s time on SAS Who Dares Wins was cut short by Channel 4 in 2021. They said that “Following a number of discussions…with him in relation to his personal conduct it has become clear that our views and values are not aligned and we will not be working with him again.”
Backstage
Then, in 2025, Middleton appeared at Tommy Robinson’s so-called Unite the Kingdom rally in London, pictured at the head of the march with Laurence Fox, Tommy Robinson, Katie Hopkins and Liam Tuffs. And he was seen socialising with Robinson and others backstage.
Middleton told the crowd: “We haven’t got a secure camp because we don’t know who’s coming. We need an umbrella identity of British culture, rules and regulations which everyone needs to adhere to”.
His words were met with rapturous applause from Robinson’s supporters.
Despite his criminal record, Middleton insists he is a credible candidate for Mayor of London.
And it’s true that, legally, his past does not bar him. UK electoral law prevents anyone from standing if they have served a prison sentence of three months or more within the last five years. Though he was jailed for more than three months, his conviction dates back to 2013, and therefore does not disqualify him.
No policies
The campaign he has launched so far is gossamer-thin. It consists largely of social media videos filmed in Dubai, content-free slogans about fixing London, and little in the way of concrete policies or costed plans.
The absence of substance is matched by the absence of… er… presence. He is not a member of the community he claims he wants to lead. He is not walking London’s streets, meeting its residents, or grappling with its complex realities.
He is speaking from a tax haven with controlled speech, no elections, and far lower street crime than the city he claims to understand.
Credibility gap
The conclusion is clear. Ant Middleton lives in Dubai, he has a criminal record for violence, he has financial and legal troubles in his past, and he is absent from the communities he claims he wants to lead.
For a city as complex and demanding as London, leadership requires credibility, accountability and presence.
For all the bluster, Middleton offers none of these.
