Who is Grant Shapps? New home secretary appointed after Suella Braverman resigns

Former transport secretary is replacing Suella Braverman after her resignation

Grant Shapps has been confirmed as the new home secretary after Suella Braverman resigned in a scathing letter that called Liz Truss’s time in office “tumultuous”.

Most recently Mr Shapps held the post of transport secretary under Boris Johnson but was sacked when Ms Truss became prime minister in September.

The new home secretary has previously held other roles in the Cabinet and he has been an MP for more than 15 years. So who exactly is Grant Shapps?

Background

Mr Shapps was born in 1968 and went to Cassio College in Watford before graduating from Manchester Polytechnic with a business and finance diploma.

Before moving his career into politics, Mr Shapps founded the PrintHouse Corportation, which is a website and print creation business based in London.

He is married with three children.

Political career

Mr Shapps has served as MP for Welwyn Hatfield in Hertfordshire for nearly 20 years since 2005.

As well as being in Mr Johnson’s Cabinet, Mr Shapps served in David Cameron’s Cabinet as housing and local government minister after the 2010 election.

Mr Shapps has served as MP for Welwyn Hatfield in Hertfordshire for nearly 20 years since 2005 (AFP via Getty Images)

Then in the 2012 Cabinet reshuffle he became chairman of the Tory Party and minister without portfolio.

He was appointed as transport secretary in July 2019 after supporting Mr Johnson’s leadership campaign.

Previously, Mr Shapps was made vice chairman of the Conservative Party in 2005 before becoming shadow housing minister in June 2007. He was also appointed to the Privy Council in June 2010.

Scandals

Grant Shapps held a second job as a “multimillion-dollar web marketer” under the pseudonym Michael Green while also an MP.

The Tory party chair had repeatedly denied that he had continued to run his online marketing firm after being elected as an MP in 2006.

But then a recording emerged of the Welwyn Hatfield MP boasting about expanding the business throughout 2006.

The company How To Corp, which he was fronting at the time under the alias, was listed in his parliamentary register of interests in 2006.

But Mr Shapps had repeatedly denied using it while working as an MP, even threatening legal action against a constituent who made the allegation.

A Tory party spokesman told the Guardian that Mr Shapps now concedes “his writing career [as Green]... ended shortly after [becoming an MP].”

The company was founded by Mr Shapps in 2000 and registered at Companies House in 2005. He transferred his share in the firm to his wife in 2008, and the company was dissolved in 2014.

What has Mr Shapps said about Liz Truss?

Only two nights ago, Mr Shapps had told a theatre audience Ms Truss had a “Mount Everest to climb” to remain in power.

Speaking at a podcast recording with comedian Matt Forde in London, Mr Shapps discussed a spreadsheet he had been known for keeping to track MPs’ support for Ms Truss, and what it said about her prospects.

“I don’t think there’s any secret she has a mountain, a Mount Everest to climb. What she needs to do is like threading the eye of a needle with the lights off,” he added.

Mr Shapps added that one of the PM’s strengths was that she was “enormously direct”, referencing when he was sacked as transport secretary by Mrs Truss for failing to support her leadership campaign.

Mr Shapps had dropped out of the race to back her eventual rival Rishi Sunak.

He said his wife felt there was a “20% chance” this directness might lead Mrs Truss to be a success in the role. “I think the 80% is closer than where we’ve got to,” he then joked.

Mr Shapps said the Tory leader’s decision to surround herself largely with those who supported her campaign had meant her base was too “narrow” to successfully lead the party, adding that some of the failures of her Government, such as the mini-Budget, could have been avoided by having a broader range of views in Cabinet.