Rishi Sunak has promoted cabinet veteran Grant Shapps to the role of defence secretary in a mini reshuffle of his top team.
Some Tory MPs had expected Mr Sunak to carry out a more wide-ranging reshuffle, ahead of next month’s Conservative Party conference and the King’s Speech, setting out the government’s priorities.
Last October, he spent six days as home secretary during the final chaotic week of Liz Truss, following the resignation of Suella Braverman from that role.
Former chief of staff Lord Dannatt said: "The big question is whether Grant Shapps is going to be a political appointee to support the prime minister in cabinet or is he going to understand the needs of defence.
Liberal Democrat defence spokesperson Richard Foord said Mr Sunak had appointed a “yes man”, who will be in charge of “slashing troop numbers by 10,000”.
He became a high-profile and ardent supporter of Ukraine after Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, cajoling other nations to respond to President Zelensky’s call for weapons to repel the Russian threat.
The original article contains 870 words, the summary contains 175 words. Saved 80%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Rishi Sunak has promoted cabinet veteran Grant Shapps to the role of defence secretary in a mini reshuffle of his top team.
Some Tory MPs had expected Mr Sunak to carry out a more wide-ranging reshuffle, ahead of next month’s Conservative Party conference and the King’s Speech, setting out the government’s priorities.
Last October, he spent six days as home secretary during the final chaotic week of Liz Truss, following the resignation of Suella Braverman from that role.
Former chief of staff Lord Dannatt said: "The big question is whether Grant Shapps is going to be a political appointee to support the prime minister in cabinet or is he going to understand the needs of defence.
Liberal Democrat defence spokesperson Richard Foord said Mr Sunak had appointed a “yes man”, who will be in charge of “slashing troop numbers by 10,000”.
He became a high-profile and ardent supporter of Ukraine after Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, cajoling other nations to respond to President Zelensky’s call for weapons to repel the Russian threat.
The original article contains 870 words, the summary contains 175 words. Saved 80%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!