UK Appoints Grant Shapps As New Defense Secretary

The United Kingdom has appointed Grant Shapps as its new defense secretary.

Shapps succeeds Ben Wallace who formally stepped down after a key role in shaping the country’s military backing for Ukraine against Russia.

Wallace, a popular lawmaker once tipped as a potential party leader, was the longest-serving Conservative defense secretary since Winston Churchill.

He had announced in a newspaper interview in July that he would step down before the next government reshuffle and not contest the next general election, which is expected in 2024.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s office announced Shapps’ appointment, around an hour after he was seen entering 10 Downing Street.

Shapps wrote on social media that he was “honored” to be appointed, saying Wallace had made an “enormous contribution” to UK defense and global security.

“I am looking forward to working with the brave men and women of our armed forces who defend our nation’s security,” he disclosed on X, formerly Twitter.

“And continuing the UK’s support for Ukraine in their fight against Putin’s barbaric invasion.”

Shapps, 54, previously held the position of home secretary in Liz Truss’s short-lived government and before that, he served as transport secretary under Boris Johnson.

He was also business secretary under Sunak before taking over as minister responsible for energy security and net zero.

Last week, he visited Kyiv to pledge UK support to fuel Ukrainian power plants through the winter.

He also toured a kindergarten attended by the young son of a Ukrainian family he has hosted at his home since Russia’s invasion.