Grant Shapps confirmed as new Defence Secretary
Military top brass called on Grant Shapps to fight for extra spending after his shock appointment as Defence Secretary.
Rishi Sunak appointed his close ally to the key role after Ben Wallace quit the post as expected ahead of stepping down as an MP at the next election.
Mr Shapps is one of the government’s most experienced ministers and has held five Cabinet posts in the last year, but does not have a military background.
He paid tribute to Mr Wallace for his “enormous contribution” and vowed to continue the UK’s support for Ukraine in its “fight against Putin’s barbaric invasion”.
A Downing Street source said the defence role has been done “very successfully” before by ministers who do not come from a military background, most notably by Labour’s Lord Robertson who went on to become Nato secretary general.
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Sunak defends Grant Shapps job role (Image: Getty)
“Grant has held a number of Cabinet positions and has a huge wealth of experience. The role requires a good communicator as the stakes are very high.”
A source close to the new Defence Secretary said he would continue Mr Wallace’s “great work” modernising the armed forces.
The insider added: “Grant is a very experienced Secretary of State, has been a member of the National Security Council from his previous roles. While in government, he has overseen government responses to crises including Ukraine, Afghanistan and pandemic and is a very capable and trusted pair of hands.”
No 10 will hope Mr Shapps’ appointment will cool tensions over spending after tensions with Mr Wallace over demands to boost Ministry of Defence coffers.
Lord Dannatt, former chief of the general staff of the British Army, said Mr Shapps knows “very little about defence” and it will take him “quite some time to get up to speed”.
Lord Dannatt urged Shapps to get up to speed (Image: Getty)
But he urged the new Defence Secretary to push for more investment in the Armed Forces.
“I think there is a risk that certainly the debate on resources for defence stagnates, at least until Grant Shapps can get his head around his portfolio,” he said.
“I think what the chief of defence staff and the single service chiefs will be hoping from the new Secretary of State for Defence is that he will listen to the concerns that they have within the wider context of the insecurity of the world.
“And although he may well have been appointed as someone who is going to support the Prime Minister and help the Conservative Party in its general election campaign, they will be hoping that he will really understand defence and push the case for defence, not just for the Ministry of Defence’s own benefit, but for the benefit of the whole country.
“Because there is a very strong case that we should be investing more in defence than we currently are. Ben Wallace knew that. Ben Wallace was arguing for it. Is that discussion going to continue? Or will Grant Shapps choose to go quietly?”
Tobias Ellwood, chairman of the Commons defence select committee, dismissed concerns about Mr Shapps’ knowledge of military matters.
Former armed forces minister Mark Francois (Image: Getty)
“He’s a very competent and capable minister,” he said. “He understands the Whitehall machine. He’s actually one of the best communicators that is in the Cabinet at the moment.
“He sits on, or has sat on, the National Security Council as well. He’s a pilot, so very familiar with the air domain too and indeed was coincidentally in Ukraine, in Kyiv, last week talking about nuclear power and other aspects too, so very familiar with what’s going on. I don’t need to remind everybody that he will be surrounded by one of the most professional civil service machines in the world.”
Former armed forces minister Mark Francois, a member of the Commons Defence Committee, said it will be an “incredibly tough act to follow” for Mr Shapps.
“I think, to put it mildly, because it’s such a complex department, this is going to be a very steep learning curve for Grant Shapps,” the Tory MP told GB News.
“Grant Shapps is a bright bloke, but he’s going to have to come up with the speed very, very quickly.”
It is Mr Shapps’ fifth job in a year after having been business secretary, home secretary for six days under Liz Truss, transport secretary and energy security secretary.
Mr Sunak also gave a major promotion to another close ally, Claire Coutinho, who becomes the first MP elected in 2019 to make it to the Cabinet.
The former junior education minister replaces Mr Shapps as Energy Security Secretary. She was succeeded by Tory MP David Johnston in the Department for Education. Northern Conservative MPs were disgruntled that the promotions all went to southern MPs.
A source said: “It is a bit of a kick in the teeth that we have lost out most senior northern MPs from the Cabinet and all of the appointments came from the south.”
The MP also pointed out that a number of ministers who have announced they are quitting at the election remain in government, including Health Minister Will Quince and Scottish Secretary Alister Jack, despite no longer having “skin in the game”.
Martyn Brown – Daily Express Deputy Political Editor
Rishi Sunak’s surprise decision to appoint Grant Shapps as Defence Secretary has certainly raised a few eyebrows.
The Government veteran’s lack of military experience is being seen by some as a strategic blunder.
That remains to be seen.
But it has certainly strengthened his position as Prime Minister.
Despite losing such an outstanding Defence Secretary in Ben Wallace, the two never really saw eye to eye.
One is a military man who wanted more cash for the Armed Forces, the other a numbers man trying to balance the books as Chancellor and PM.
The Boris Johnson ally was also an inherited pick for Mr Sunak as he offered continuity in Britain’s leading role to help Ukraine fend off Russia’s invasion. Mr Sunak also needed political unity in his first Cabinet following the tumultuous endings to Mr Johnson and Liz Truss’s premierships.
But Mr Wallace’s resignation gave him a chance to bolster his ranks with loyalists.
Mr Shapps backed Mr Sunak in both Conservative leadership contests last year while new Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary Claire Coutinho is one of the PM’s staunchest political allies.
When he made his five political pledges at the beginning of this year Mr Sunak had a clear vision of what he wanted to achieve.
He was less clear whether Boris Johnson would try to mount a coup against his leadership.
The former PM has now left Parliament. So has his biggest cheerleader Nadine Dorries. Mr Wallace leaves at the next election and is no longer in Cabinet. The Prime Minister, rumoured to be planning a full reshuffle in the coming weeks, will no doubt use it to reward more loyal Sunakites.
His political position assured, Mr Sunak can now focus on getting the Tory machine ready for next year’s expected general election.
