UK premier appoints Grant Shapps as new defense secretary

LONDON — Grant Shapps is appointed UK defense secretary, succeeding Ben Wallace who formally stepped down after a key role shaping the country’s military backing for Ukraine against Russia.

Wallace, a popular lawmaker once tipped as a potential leader of the ruling Conservative party, was the longest-serving Tory 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 run in the next general election, which is expected in 2024.

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

Shapps, who is Jewish, writes on social media that he is “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 posts on X, formerly Twitter. “And continuing the UK’s support for Ukraine in their fight against Putin’s barbaric invasion.”

Shapps, 54, who has no military experience, briefly served as home secretary last October in Liz Truss’s short-lived government and before that 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.