The prime minister, Rishi Sunak, will appoint a new defence secretary after Wallace’s formal resignation. He praised Wallace’s “strategic foresight” in dealing with Vladimir Putin and the Ukraine war and said he played an instrumental role in the evacuation of Afghanistan.
Another name being strongly linked with the now vacant defence secretary role is energy security secretary Grant Shapps, who was seen entering Downing Street just before 9am today.
He has been a familiar figure throughout the various Tory prime minister’s cabinets in recent years, also serving as business secretary, transport secretary and even home secretary (for less than a week under Liz Truss).
And now he appears likely to take on the defence job. Stay tuned.
