Grant Shapps appointed new Defence Secretary

Grant Shapps has been appointed Defence Secretary in Rishi Sunak’s mini-reshuffle prompted by Ben Wallace’s formal resignation.

The Prime Minister handed the role overseeing British support to Ukraine during its resistance against the Russian invasion to the energy secretary on Thursday. Mr 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.

Education minister Claire Coutinho was seen entering No 10 after Mr Shapps, with his energy role expected to be filled.

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Mr Shapps said he is “honoured” to become Defence Secretary as he praised Ben Wallace’s time in the role, tweeting: “I’m honoured to be appointed as Defence Secretary by @RishiSunak.

“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.”

Mr Wallace announced last month that he would resign from the senior Cabinet role at the next reshuffle. He has served under three prime ministers in the position and played a key role in the UK’s response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and was a close ally of Boris Johnson.

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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