Meet the UK's hardest MP: MMA fighter who traded the cage for the Commons

'I am the toughest MP': Swindon North's Will Stone speaks to ITV News reporter Lewis Denison

Parliament has a new hardest MP, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu fighter who is preparing to take on a Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) professional in a charity fight next month.

Will Stone is a former soldier and MMA fighter who recently traded the octagon for the House of Commons when he was elected the Labour MP for Swindon North.

After body-slamming your author following our interview, and defeating former minister Justin Tomlinson for his seat, Stone is setting his sights on beating MMA champion Matt Inman in a charity fight at a Polaris Pro Grappling event on November 2.

Swindon North MP body-slams ITV News journalist Lewis Denison

There have been combat-trained MPs in the past - former deputy prime minister Dominic Raab was a black belt in karate - but Stone is confident he is now the UK's toughest politician.

Fellow MP Mike Tapp says Stone is "hard as nails". Asked if he'd say he's the hardest MP, Stone said: "Yeah, I would, I don't think that's a very high bar there if I'm being honest and I don’t think constituents want hard MPs, but I would say I’m the toughest MP."

That same confidence doesn't exactly translate when talking about his opponent Inman, who had 150 Brazilian jiu-jitsu fights in 2023 alone and has a professional MMA record of 20 wins to 11 losses.

He's "not scared" but also accepts the odds are stacked against him. "I think I can win," he said, but believes he only has a "20% chance of winning".

"Matt is a very established fighter. He's good, but I'm strong in certain positions," he added, "it's going to be interesting, but I'm not a full time athlete anymore. So I would say the odds are stacked against me."

But some of the things he learned while training are skills transferrable to politics, Stone insists.

"Both the army and competing in jiu-jitsu makes you quite robust. And I think that's very important for being an MP, because it is an arduous job."

He added: "Jiu-jitsu is live action problem solving. So I'm trying to submit my opponent while they're trying to submit me. So you have to think on your feet constantly. And I think that's useful in politics. You've got to be malleable for both."

He is a far cry from former deputy prime minister John Prescott, who was clearly out of practice when he punched a protester in 2001, but Stone has had to cut down his training regime to compete with the challenges of politics.

"I'm getting about one session in a week, but I'm doing strength conditioning... So I'm keeping my body strong. But jujitsu; I used to do 15 classes a week - I can't do that now," he said.

Stone's opponent in November has trained alongside UFC world champion Conor McGregor, who is hoping to emulate the Swindon MP by also entering politics.

The Irishman recently announced he would run for his country's presidency ahead of next year's election.

He claimed to be the "only logical choice" in a post on X, writing: "I would have all the answers the people of Ireland seek from these thieves of the working man."

But Stone does not think McGregor should change career.

Asked if the UFC legend would make a good president of Ireland, he said: "No. Absolutely not. I respect Conor for his skills at fighting but It's actually quite sad to see how far he's fallen, and I think he needs to look at mental health help.

"He's a great fighter, but he needs help, to be honest."

Fighter-turned-politician says Conor McGregor would not make a good president of Ireland

McGregor admitted being in "deep mental pain" earlier this year after pulling out of a UFC fight due to injury.

Stone's specialism in martial arts, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, is becoming hugely popular amongst celebrities including actor Tom Hardy who surprisingly competed competition two years ago and won.

Another is Meta owner Mark Zuckerberg who last year appeared to accept an offer from the world's richest man to have a cage fight.

Elon Musk tweeted "I’m up for a cage match if he is lol", to which Zuckerberg responded "send me location".

It's not clear if the fight would ever actually happen, but Stone thinks Musk would be well advised to avoid Zuckerberg.

"He would destroy Elon Musk. It wouldn't even be comparable. Mark is only a blue belt and he's new to the sport, but from what I can see, he takes it very seriously.

"Elon doesn't grapple. He did judo when he was a child. There is no way that Elon Musk wins that fight."

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