Rishi Sunak appoints Grant Shapps defence secretary after Ben Wallace quits

Rishi Sunak has appointed Grant Shapps as his new defence secretary.

The Prime Minister promoted the former energy minister following the resignation of Ben Wallace.

Wallace, who served under three prime ministers in the position, played a key role in the UK’s response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and was a close ally of Boris Johnson.

Former education minister Claire Coutinho has replaced Shapps as energy secretary.

Shapps has never held a role in the Ministry of Defence before but is taking on his fifth role in the Cabinet in the last year by becoming its Secretary of State.

He said he was “honoured” to take on the role “continuing the UK’s support for Ukraine in their fight against Putin’s barbaric invasion”.

Wallace had announced last month that he would resign from his role at the next cabinet reshuffle.

In a letter to the Prime Minister, he said: “The Ministry of Defence is back on the path to being once again world-class with world-class people.

“The United Kingdom is respected around the world for our armed forces and that respect has only grown more since the war in Ukraine.

“I know you agree with me that we must not return to the days where defence was viewed as a discretionary spend by Government and savings were achieved by hollowing out.”