Rishi Sunak is announcing a mini-reshuffle
Ben Wallace today formally tendered his resignation as defence secretary, a move he had already announced in July. Rishi Sunak has now appointed Grant Shapps to replace him.
Wallace served four years as defence secretary. In his resignation letter, he said: “The last four years has seen our Armed Forces and their leadership shine through. Whether it was the evacuation of Kabul, our Covid response, Ukraine or Sudan, the professionalism of our people has been first class.”
Shapps has held a range of ministerial positions, including as energy secretary, business secretary and transport secretary. He was briefly home secretary for just six days during the tumultuous Liz Truss premiership. He took on the role just one day before the ailing ex-prime minister announced her resignation.
Shapps’ time as transport secretary was torrid, coinciding with the first wave of strikes on the railways, and the P&O scandal. While transport secretary he also faced criticism for exaggerating the pay of rail workers during the strikes with Full Fact saying his claims were “not representative of striking workers”. The RMT’s Mick Lynch was also deeply critical of Shapps’ conduct during the dispute, accusing him of “wrecking” negotiations.
Earlier this year, Shapps was widely mocked for photoshopping Boris Johnson out of a picture he shared on social media.
Following his appointment, Shapps said: “I’m honoured to be appointed as Defence Secretary by Rishi Sunak. I’d like to pay tribute to the enormous contribution Ben Wallace has made to UK defence & global security over the last 4 years.
“As I get to work at DefenceHQ I am looking forward to working with the brave men and women of our Armed Forces who defend our nation’s security. And continuing the UK’s support for Ukraine in their fight against Putin’s barbaric invasion.”
The prime minister is expected to announce a small number of other changes to his cabinet today.
Chris Jarvis is head of strategy and development at Left Foot Forward
Image credit: YouTube screengrab
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