Tory politician who bragged about being army colonel and a member of MI5 is exposed as a fantasist who lives with his aunt

4 Dec 2013 00:01

ROBERT Kerr-Ardis also claimed to be an Earl and Baron but his web of lies was uncovered after colleagues become suspicious at a posh party dinner last month.

A TORY politician who boasted of being an army colonel, an earl, a viscount, a baron and a member of MI5 has been exposed as a fantasist who lives with his aunt in a high-rise council flat.

Robert Kerr-Ardis was deputy chairman of Falkirk Conservative and Unionist Association and an election candidate until colleagues rumbled his web of deceit.

Suspicions were raised about the 28-year-old – also known as the Rt Hon Robert Edward Kerr-Ardis, the Earl Ardis, Viscount Wexford and Baron Elmbridge – at a posh Tory dinner in Edinburgh last month.

Ardis turned up in ill-fitting military mess dress with campaign medals, posing as an Irish Guards colonel.

It's understood that when quizzed by guests, including former leader of the Lords Lord Strathclyde, he moved on quickly or changed the subject.

Ardis's Facebook profile picture shows him at a war memorial in an Irish Guards tie, beret and blazer.

But when fellow Tories asked why his Army career was not recorded on Google, he said he was under special protection from his time in Ireland.

And a party source revealed that when constituency bosses confronted him, he allegedly said: "Shut up. You're blowing my cover. I'm MI5."

Ardis has now been kicked out of the party by red-faced bosses. And when the Record checked his credentials, they fell apart.

A senior Ministry of Defence source told us: "There has never been an Irish Guards officer called Ardis. He's far too young to do the things he's claimed.

"There aren't many Guards colonels. It's a pretty small club, so he was never going to get away with it."

Colonel Tim Purdon OBE, the Irish Guards Adjutant, added: "He's definitely not one of ours. You have to feel sorry for characters like this who make things up. I hope he hasn't conned many people in Scotland."

Experts also dismissed Ardis's claims to be an aristocrat. David White at the College of Arms in London said: "There has never been a title of Elmbridge, nor has a family of that name held a peerage."

It's understood Ardis joined the local party in Falkirk in 2008. He contested Falkirk North in last year's council elections but got only 346 first preference votes.

However, he remained a major presence in the local party, and was appointed their deputy chairman earlier this year. Chairwoman Lynn Munro asked Ardis to head the local European election campaign, and he helped man a Tory Better Together tent at the Edinburgh Mela festival.

In a CV Ardis sent to a non-profit organisation, he said he was a former "field officer at HM Armed Forces" who served in north Africa, Belize, Bosnia, Kosovo and Chechnya.

He also claimed to have advised the Foreign Office and MoD.

It's understood Ardis lives with his elderly aunt, Irene, in a Falkirk high rise. She told us she hadn't seen him for a couple of days and knew nothing about his fantasies, and he failed to respond to messages on his phone.