COLCHESTER’S MP is set to commence weeks of military training after signing up as a reservist for an Army regiment.

Will Quince said he had long held an ambition to sign up as an officer, joining the likes of Braintree MP James Cleverly as a reservist.

He passed the Army Officer Selection Board in March, before attesting as a reservist in the Military Provost Staff Regiment on Friday.

“I think it’s something I’ve always had an aspiration to do,” he said.

“I must confess when I was in my early 20s, I wasn’t fit enough to do it and for the first time at 39 I am fit enough.”

Mr Quince said he had spent around a year and a half undergoing the process of joining the Army, in part because he “wanted to step up”.

“Living in a Garrison town we are surrounded by people who have stepped up to serve their country, I thought it was time to do something myself,” he said.

The MP, who juggles constituency work with his Government role as Minister for Children and Families, said it would be “perfectly doable” to add weeks of military training to his schedule.

He said the training will start in Colchester at the Military Corrective Training Centre.

“I’ll probably do that in [Parliament] recess and on weekends,” he said.

“Then ultimately I will be spending blocks of time – up to eight weeks – in Sandhurst to commission as an officer.

“I’ll do it in two-week blocks or on weekends.”

Mr Quince said once he is commissioned, the commitment to the regiment is “19 days per year”.

“Bearing in mind the time Parliament is in recess it is perfectly doable,” he said.

“Of course, hundreds of people across Colchester do this as well as their full time jobs. It is good for MPs to lead by example.

“I’ve been bowled over by the warmth of the [responses] to what I’m doing.

“Ultimately in a situation of a national crisis you would be called up, but ultimately this is primarily about doing something which is important to Colchester and important to me.”

The Military Provost Staff Regiment are the Armed Forces detention specialists providing custody and detention, advice, inspection and surety within custodial establishments.