Grant Shapps finds himself short of ammunition and under heavy fire

Editorial: The new defence secretary has been appointed largely because he’ll grant the PM a quiet life. But he and his colleagues may find themselves badly exposed on the salient of public opinion

(Dave Brown)

Though never quite a household name, Ben Wallace was something of an understated star in the mostly undistinguished cabinets of Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak. The former defence secretary deserves great credit – with British intelligence – for identifying the threat to Ukraine and indeed world peace represented by Vladimir Putin.

He pioneered the early delivery of military assistance to Kyiv, was trusted by Volodymyr Zelensky and his lieutenants. At home Mr Wallace commanded great respect among “his” armed forces – as a former soldier the description seems justified – and objected publicly to the “hollowing out” of UK defence capabilities under successive governments.

In his resignation letter, magnanimous in the circumstances, Mr Wallace reminded the whole nation that the coming decade harbours unprecedented threats to British security. Wisdom that the next government, whatever its complexion, will have to heed. It is only because of the dire geopolitical consequences of Brexit that he failed to seize the final prize of his career and become secretary general of Nato.

Mr Wallace will be missed then, among his international counterparts, in Kyiv, in government and in his own party, where he fleetingly stood a chance of becoming leader when Mr Johnson stood down.

However, the loss from active politics of Mr Wallace will be most grievously felt in the ministry of defence and among the armed forces. There is a very good reason why Rishi Sunak overlooked the likes of Penny Mordaunt, James Heappy, Tom Tugendhat, Johnny Mercer and Liam Fox, who were all well-qualified and experienced for the role, and appointed Grant Shapps instead.

Rightly or wrongly – and it is a weakness in a Tory premier – Mr Sunak doesn’t want to have to spend any more on defence than he can get away with and, in an election year, wants to avoid vocal dissent from his defence secretary. Mr Wallace had the standing to be able to do so with authority, but he was also measured in his demands, and sensed when not to push his luck with No 10 and the Treasury. His successor might not have been so restrained, and Mr Sunak’s administration has enough splits and schisms to be going on with for now.

Mr Shapps has been one of the multipurpose ministers that kept government running during the last chaotic couple of years – he was even home secretary for about a week – and is perfectly competent. He is rated as a media performer, taking on one of the toughest gigs during the last days of the Johnson and Truss administrations.

His greatest advantage in office, however, is that, unlike Ms Mordaunt et al, he may be relied upon to grant Mr Sunak a quiet life on the defence front. A veteran of scraps with Mick Lynch and the RMT, it is yet to be seen how well Mr Shapps will cope under sustained shelling by the chiefs of the defence staff – but he has the PM and chancellor on his side, just as he is on theirs.

A year after the end of the Johnson era and the formation of the doomed Truss government, and some 13 years of Tory rule, the fact that Mr Shapps is regarded as one of the principal political weapons to be deployed in the coming election campaign speaks volumes for how hollowed out the Tory party is, to borrow a phrase.

Mr Sunak must be hoping that the young meteor that is newly promoted Claire Coutinho will add some pizzazz to a jaded front bench. At any rate, the Conservative Party is running short of talent as well as time and ideas.

Mr Shapps and his colleagues find themselves on a badly exposed salient so far as the opinion polls go, with surprisingly little to show for more than a decade in office, and any achievements grimly overshadowed by Brexit.

A nice man with a cheerful disposition, Mr Shapps approaches the next election whistling Tipperary, short of ammunition and wary of friendly fire from his own generals.