Why Grant Shapps got the job as Defence Secretary

Grant Shapps is the new Defence Secretary, after Ben Wallace officially resigned this morning. The seasoned cabinet minister moves from energy secretary to the coveted role. As I reported in this week’s politics column for the magazine, the desired criteria in No. 10 for the candidate included ‘efficient, non-flashy, loyal, decent’. Does Shapps fit all four? Well, he’s certainly loyal having backed Rishi Sunak not once but twice for leader. He’s also viewed as a capable minister both in terms of running a department and performing on the media. Shapps – who famously took the media round over Barnard Castle when Boris Johnson was prime minister – is seen as one of the safest pairs of hands.

As for Shapps’s defence credentials, he conveniently visited Kyiv in the past week. He also very briefly served as the chair of the Ukraine All-Party Parliamentary Group, moving to the Home Office under Liz Truss before her premiership imploded (he is the shortest-serving home secretary in history).