EX-BBYO president Shapps appointed defence secretary by Sunak
Following the resignation of Ben Wallace from the defence role, Grant Shapps, who has described himself as being 'loosely observant' has been handed the post
Lee Harpin is the Jewish News's political editor
Grant Shapps has been appointed as prime minister Rishi Sunak’s new defence secretary.
The former BBYO president, first elected as the MP for Welwyn Hatfield in 2005, was confirmed in the post on Thursday following the resignation of Ben Wallace.
“I’m honoured to be appointed as Defence Secretary by Rishi Sunak,” Shapps tweeted.
“I’d like to pay tribute to the enormous contribution Ben Wallace has made to UK defence and global security over the last four years.”
Shapps, who was energy security secretary, has previously served briefly as home secretary under ex-PM Liz Truss, business secretary, transport secretary and chairman of the Tory party, among a number of junior ministerial roles since 2010.
He was widely praised over his and his wife’s decision to take a Ukrainian family into their UK home to escape Vladimir Putin’s brutal invasion.
In an interview with Jewish News earlier this year, he said:”As a family, our identity was always as a traditional Jewish family in as much as we are loosely observant, you know… Friday night dinners, shul a couple of times a year.”
I’m honoured to be appointed as Defence Secretary by @RishiSunak
I’d like to pay tribute to the enormous contribution Ben Wallace has made to UK defence & global security over the last 4 years https://t.co/CXWOaYnmUJ
— Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP (@grantshapps) August 31, 2023
Shapps, who took a business course at Manchester Metropolitan University, would later marry his wife Belinda, a practicing psychotherapist, who hails from the Prestwich community on the outskirts of the same city he studied in.
They now have three children.
Shapps also said that being a member of the Conservative Party has left him feeling “really comfortable” because “we are always the ones that recognise that for all Israel’s faults, and goodness knows there are many, there is only one (Jewish state) in the Middle East.”
The 55 year-old has said his time in the Jewish youth movement BBYO “massively influenced” his career path in Westminster.
Among those to welcome Shapps appointment as defence secretary was Boris Johnson who said he was an “excellent choice” to replace Wallace.
Malcolm Rifkind is believed to have been the last Jewish defence secretary back in 1995.
Labour shadow defence secretary John Healy tweeted:”I congratulate Grant Shapps today.
“The first duty of any government is to keep our country safe and I will always work with the new Defence Secretary on this basis, especially on Ukraine.
“But after 13 years of Tory defence failures, a change at the top will not change this record.”
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