Disgraced Ex-Royal Navy First Sea Lord Sir Ben Key keeps pension but loses Admiral rank after secret affair

The former boss of the Royal Navy was sacked yesterday (July 2) following an investigation into a relationship with a subordinate. Sir Ben, 59, was told to step back from his role in May shortly before planning to retire.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) confirmed to Forces News that following his departure, he will be stripped of his rank of Admiral but will keep his pension. His behaviour “has been found to have fallen far short of values and standards expected of service personnel”, they said. “This has resulted in termination of service and his commission,” they added.

Chief of Defence Staff Admiral Sir Tony Radakin previously said the “highest standards of professional behaviour” are expected by service personnel, and robust action will be taken against inappropriate behaviour.

Sir Ben said deeply regretted his conduct and that it fell well below standard of what he sets for himself and the Royal Navy. He accepted the decision and apologised to personnel.

Ahmed Al-Nahhas, partner and head of Military Claims at law firm Bolt Burdon Kemp, said despite not all the facts of the case being disclosed, the discharging and stripping Sir Ben of his rank “indicates extremely inappropriate behaviour”. He welcomed the decision but believes the military has turned a blind eye to such incidents for far too long.

“It’s supremely disappointing that a person of such authority and high esteem has fallen so low and disgraced himself,” Mr Al-Nahhas said. “I would welcome more transparency. For example, we do not know on what basis Sir Ben should still be awarded his pension. A military pension can amount to many hundreds of thousands of pounds; does he deserve this?

“I worry about the impact that this will have on the individual who was involved with Sir Ben. Women in the military are often stigmatised and isolated when these things come to light, even if they have done nothing wrong. We know that the vast majority of service personnel do not trust the Chain of Command to investigate complaints fairly, and is it any surprise?

“I also wonder how many such service complaints Sir Ben has determined as a Deciding Officer during his service, and whether we can trust that these complaints have been dealt with fairly in the light of his behaviour.”

The investigation and what it means now

Sir Ben, a married father of three children, was found to have been in a consensual relationship with a female officer under his command. This would be in breach of the Royal Navy’s code of conduct and service test. Although this case wasn’t classed as bullying and harassment, other cases of inappropriate behaviour to varying degrees has been impacting the force over the years.

Lieutenant Commander Martyn Mayger, former Commanding Officer of HMS Tyne, was removed from his role and is under investigation over “unacceptable sexual behaviour”. Sir Ben himself confirmed to the defence select committee on March 18 that a Commanding Officer was “removed elsewhere” as the culture they set on board their ship was not right.

A larger number of Royal Navy teams now monitor environments to determine if personnel have met the force’s standards. A government report found several examples of “misogyny, bullying and other unacceptable behaviours” in the submarine service after former lieutenant Sophie Brook blew the whistle in 2022.

Current snapshot of Royal Navy morale

According to the recently published Armed Forces Continuous Attitude Survey (CAS), which included responses from 9,360 personnel, 12 per cent reported they had been subject to bullying, discrimination or harassment, in the past 12 months. Of all female personnel asked in the report, 10 per cent reported to being subject to sexual harassment in the last 12 months.

From the selection of those impacted by bullying, 86 per cent of them did not make a formal written complaint. Most of them believe nothing will be done about it, or it will have too much of an impact on their career.

Mr Al-Nahhas said other statistics, such as those in the Atherton Report, indicate much higher figures. He added: “We need to appreciate that many who serve will be worried to engage on these issues openly in the CAS. When MOD commit to canvasing those leaving the forces and/or veterans, we will probably see much more accurate (and higher) figures."