Ben Wallace to quit politics

Ben Wallace has announced that he will be leaving frontline politics at the next cabinet reshuffle. In an interview with the Sunday Times, the Defence Secretary confirmed reports in the media that he will be stepping down at the next election – and also bowing out of the a cabinet ahead of polling day: ‘I’m not standing next time’, he says. ‘I went into politics in the Scottish parliament in 1999. That’s 24 years. I’ve spent well over seven years with three phones by my bed’. However, Wallace adds that he will avoid the route chattered by Boris Johnson and not quit prematurely thereby starting a by-election. 

This means that in the next cabinet reshuffle – which as I first reported earlier this month will be in the autumn now rather than spring – there will be a vacancy for one of the top jobs. Wallace makes the point to the Sunday Times that the Tory offer on defence could be key to the party’s chances at the next election: ‘At the moment, I see Labour entirely avoiding the issue of funding for defence.’