Ben Wallace (politician)
Ben Wallace | |
---|---|
Secretary of State for Defence | |
In office 24 July 2019 – 31 August 2023 | |
Prime Minister | |
Preceded by | Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Northern Ireland |
In office 12 May 2015 – 17 July 2016 | |
Prime Minister | David Cameron |
Preceded by | Andrew Murrison |
Succeeded by | Kris Hopkins |
Member of Parliament for Wyre and Preston North Lancaster and Wyre (2005–2010) | |
Assumed office 5 May 2005 | |
Preceded by | Hilton Dawson |
Majority | 16,781 (31.7%) |
Member of the Scottish Parliament for North East Scotland (1 of 7 Regional MSPs) | |
In office 6 May 1999 – 31 March 2003 | |
Succeeded by | Nanette Milne |
Personal details | |
Born | Robert Ben Lobban Wallace 15 May 1970 Farnborough, Kent, England |
Political party | Conservative |
Spouse |
Liza Cooke (m. 2001) |
Children | 3 |
Education | Millfield School |
Alma mater | Royal Military Academy Sandhurst |
Signature | |
Website | benwallace |
Military service | |
Allegiance | United Kingdom |
Branch/service | British Army |
Years of service | 1991–1998 |
Rank | Captain |
Unit | Scots Guards |
Battles/wars | The Troubles |
Awards | Mentioned in dispatches |
Robert Ben Lobban Wallace (born 15 May 1970) is a British politician and former British Army Officer who served as Secretary of State for Defence from 2019 to 2023. A member of the Conservative Party, he has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Wyre and Preston North, formerly Lancaster and Wyre, since 2005.
Before becoming involved in politics, Wallace was a
Following the 2015 general election and the formation of the
In July 2023, Wallace announced that he intended to resign as Secretary of State for Defence at the next Cabinet reshuffle, and that he would not be seeking re-election as an MP at the
Early life
Wallace was born on 15 May 1970 in Farnborough, Kent.[8][9] His father was a soldier in the 1st King's Dragoon Guards and served in Malaya.[10]
Wallace was educated at
Military career
After training as a cadet at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, in June 1991 Wallace was commissioned into the Scots Guards as a second lieutenant, with a short service commission.[13] From 1991 to 1998, he served in Germany, Cyprus, Belize, and Northern Ireland.[2] In April 1993, he was promoted lieutenant,[14] and later that year was mentioned in dispatches[15] for an incident in Belfast where the patrol he was commanding captured an entire IRA active service unit (ASU) attempting to carry out a bomb attack against British troops.[2][16] The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) later said that no one arrested as a result of the patrol was prosecuted.[17] In 1996 he was promoted captain.[18]
Wallace was on duty on the night of the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, and was a member of the party sent to Paris to bring home her body.[19]
In June 1998, Wallace transferred from the Active List to the Regular Army Reserve of Officers as a captain, thereby ending his active service and beginning a period of call-up liability.[20] He later explained that he had decided against seeking to become a regular officer and to continue after the age of thirty, as the part of the work he had really enjoyed was commanding soldiers, and this was likely to diminish after that point.[10]
Wallace is a member of the Royal Company of Archers, a ceremonial unit that serves as the Sovereign's bodyguard in Scotland. As such, he participated in the vigil over the Queen's coffin as she lay in state in Westminster Hall on 15 September 2022.[21]
Political career
Scottish Parliament
Wallace entered politics after leaving the army, citing as a reason for this decision the experience he had commanding men from some of the UK's most economically deprived areas, which he averred could be improved by promoting a more aspirational society.
From 2003 to 2005 he was overseas director of the aerospace company
Member of UK Parliament
Wallace was elected as Member of Parliament for the
His constituency was abolished for the
From 2005 to 2010, Wallace was a member of the
Junior ministerial roles and EU referendum
Following his re-election to Parliament in 2010, Wallace was appointed as
In May 2015, Wallace was promoted to Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Northern Ireland Office. Early in 2016, with the approach of the European Union referendum, Boris Johnson was wavering between Leave and Remain, and Wallace advised him strongly to support Remain, as taking the Leave side would mean being allied with "clowns".[19] Wallace himself supported the Remain side before the referendum.[31] After it had been won by Leave, David Cameron resigned as party leader. Johnson at once launched a leadership campaign run by Wallace and Lynton Crosby. However, a week later, after Michael Gove had decided to stand as well, Johnson withdrew.[19]
The new Prime Minister
Secretary of State for Defence
On 24 July 2019, Boris Johnson became Prime Minister and immediately appointed Wallace as Secretary of State for Defence, replacing Penny Mordaunt,[34] who was left out of the new government.[35] In August 2019, Wallace was overheard discussing Johnson's controversial prorogation of parliament with Florence Parly, the French Armed Forces minister. He suggested that the reason for the prorogation for five weeks was to prevent MPs from blocking the government's Brexit plans, rather than the government's official position that it was to introduce a new legislative agenda.[36] 10 Downing Street responded to his comments by admonishing him and stating that he had "misspoken".[37] This prorogation was deemed unlawful by the Supreme Court on 24 September 2019.[38]
On 13 October 2019, in a NATO meeting, Wallace defended the 2019 Turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria. He commented, "Turkey needs to do what it sometimes has to do to defend itself". His comments were condemned by other delegates at the meeting.[39][40] On 12 January 2020, in an interview with The Sunday Times, Wallace said that the UK "must be prepared to fight wars without the US", one of the UK's key allies. He stated that the upcoming defence review "should be used to make the UK less dependent on the US in future conflicts". His comments were made in response to US President Donald Trump's "America First" isolationist policies. Wallace also said that the next defence review would be the "deepest review" of Britain's defence and foreign policies since the end of the Cold War in 1991.[41] On 15 March 2021, as part of the Integrated Review, Wallace released a command paper titled Defence in a Competitive Age, in which he detailed "a mission to seek out and to understand future threats, and to invest in the capabilities to defeat them," promising an expenditure of £188 billion on defence over the next four years.[42]
In July 2021, Wallace said that the United States had left Britain in a "very difficult position" following the
Wallace was the minister responsible for the British evacuation from Kabul, Operation Pitting. He was involved in a controversial decision to allow Pen Farthing – who ran an animal sanctuary in Kabul – to evacuate 71 people and more than 100 animals from Kabul to the UK.[47][48] Wallace said Ministry of Defence staff had suffered abuse from some of Farthing's supporters, who alleged the government had initially abandoned Farthing.[49] In December 2021, Wallace met with Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to discuss cooperation in various fields, especially defence, having discussed similar matters the previous year with Saudi Arabia's vice defence minister Prince Khalid bin Salman.[50][51] In 2022, at an event to mark the 40th anniversary of the end of the Falklands War, Wallace declared Britain's determination to "stand up to bullies".[52] His words were decried as "belligerent threats" and "denigrating references" by Argentina.[53]
Wallace met
On 21 March 2022, clipped footage of Wallace in a
Wallace was perceived as responsible for initial British reluctance to send
Boris Johnson announced his intention to resign as Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party in July 2022 following a series of mass resignations from his government. Wallace was seen as a contender to succeed him as party leader and thus Prime Minister, but on 10 July he ruled himself out from entering the contest. In a statement on Twitter, he said his focus was on his current job and "keeping this great country safe".[70] He later endorsed Liz Truss in the election.[71] Following the appointment of Truss as Prime Minister, Wallace was reappointed to his post on 6 September.[72] He retained his post when Rishi Sunak became prime minister on 25 October. On 7 November, Wallace announced that the competition to build a new national flagship yacht would be scrapped with immediate effect.[73]
On 19 January 2023 Wallace together with the defence ministers of Estonia, Poland, Latvia and Lithuania; and the representatives of Denmark, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, and Slovakia issued the
Personal life
Wallace married Liza Cooke in 2001. They met when she was a researcher in the Scottish Parliament and Wallace was an MSP.[84] His wife worked as a part-time parliamentary assistant in his office until 30 April 2019.[85] They have since separated.[86] He has described the burden of his job on his private life as one of the regrets of his political career.[6] The couple have two sons and a daughter.[9] His children were divided on whether Wallace should have made a pitch for the Conservative leadership in 2022.[6]
Wallace divides his time between Lancashire and London.[87][88] Outside politics, he lists his recreations as skiing, sailing, rugby and horse racing.[89] He is a member of the Third Guards club.[9]
Honours
Ribbon | Description | Notes |
---|---|---|
General Service Medal | Northern Ireland Clasp; Mentioned in Despatches | |
Diamond Jubilee Medal | ||
Platinum Jubilee Medal | ||
Cross of Merit of the Ministry of Defence (Class I) | Estonia[90] | |
Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise (Class II) | Ukraine[91] |
References
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- ISBN 978-1-5286-2462-6. Retrieved 22 March 2021.)
{{cite book}}
: Unknown parameter|agency=
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{{cite news}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Jakes, Lara (12 July 2023). "'We're Not Amazon': Britain's Defense Minister Says Ukrainian Officials Should Show More Gratitude". The New York Times – via NYTimes.com.
- ^ Gray, Andrew (12 July 2023). "Urging gratitude on weapons, UK tells Ukraine: 'We're not Amazon'". Reuters – via www.reuters.com.
- ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 17 July 2023.
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- ^ Sinmaz, Emine (16 October 2022). "Ben Wallace seen as possible contender to replace Truss as Tory leader". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 16 October 2022. Retrieved 16 October 2022.
- ^ "About Ben". Personal website. Archived from the original on 18 July 2021. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
- ^ "IPSA record". IPSA. Archived from the original on 2 October 2018. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
- ^ "The Rt Hon Ben Wallace MP". GOV.UK. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
- ^ "Kaitseministeeriumi teeneteristi andmine" (in Estonian). Archived from the original on 4 March 2022.
- better source needed]
External links
- Scottish Parliament profiles of MSPs: Ben Wallace
- Ben Wallace MP Archived 17 May 2010 at the Wayback Machine Conservative Party profile
- Profile at Parliament of the United Kingdom
- Contributions in Parliament at Hansard
- Voting record at Public Whip
- Record in Parliament at TheyWorkForYou
- News articles