§ Article 17a
§ 17a. Political Activities and Candidature for Parliament.—No officer or man is permitted to take any active part in the affairs of any political organisation or party, either by acting as a member of a candidate's election committee, or by speaking in public or publishing or distributing literature in furtherance of the 1740 political purposes of any such organisation or party, or in any other manner.
§ 2. Except as provided in Clause 4 below, no officer or man is permitted to issue an address to electors or in any other manner publicly to announce himself or allow himself to be announced as a candidate or a prospective candidate for any constituency for election to the Parliaments of the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland, or the Irish Republic, or to the Legislative Assembly of Malta.
§ 3. Officers desiring to retire or resign, and men desiring to be discharged with a view to standing as candidates for election to the Parliaments of the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland or the Irish Republic, or to the Legislative Assembly of Malta must make application through the usual Service channels. The approval of such applications will depend on the exigencies of the Service. An officer whose application is approved will be treated as retiring or resigning voluntarily. A man whose application is approved will be granted a free discharge as from the day before he issues his address or is otherwise publicly announced as a Parliamentary candidate. Unsuccessful candidates will have no right to reinstatement in the Service.
§ 4. Notwithstanding the provision in Clause 2 above, persons who are by virtue of the National Service Acts, 1948, serving for a term of whole-time service (i.e., including National Service men who are granted commissions during their period of whole-time service) in the Royal Navy or the Royal Marines are permitted, if they wish to stand for Parliament, to allow their candidature to be announced. Such candidates must apply through the usual channels for discharge from whole-time service in order to contest an election, and may, if the exigencies of the Service permit, be discharged (or permitted to resign their commissions) one month before polling day without prejudice to any liability to complete whole-time service under the National Service Acts, 1948. From the date of discharge a National Service man may issue an address and speak in public in civilian clothes and take part in other political activities provided he has been formally adopted as a prospective candidate or as a candidate for the election. National Service candidates who fail to secure election will he recalled to complete their whole-time service. In all other respects the provisions of Clauses 1 and 2 of this article are applicable to National Service candidates.
§ 5. Except as provided in Clause 4 the prohibitions contained in Clauses 1 and 2 apply to officers (except Admirals of the Fleet when they are unemployed) and men, notwithstanding that they may be on unemployed or half-pay, or seconded or lent or granted leave without pay. They also apply to retired officers and officers on the emergency list and pensioners when such officers or men are recalled to service or re-employed, and to officers and men of the reserve forces when actually serving.