Ben Wallace, Secretary of State for Defense of the United Kingdom, places a wreath during an Armed Forces Full Honor Wreath Laying Ceremony at the Tomb of the Unkown Solider in Arlington, Va., on July 12, 2021. (U.S. Army photo by Cpl. Zachery Perkins)
RIAT 2023 — Ben Wallace, the UK’s Secretary of State for Defence, announced today he will step down from the role when the government next does a cabinet reshuffle, and he will not seek to return to parliament come general elections.
He made the announcement in an interview with the Sunday Times.
Wallace, who was first elected to parliament in 2005, took over as defense minister in July 2019, staying steady in that position through the prime ministerial turnover of first Boris Johnson, then Liz Truss, and now current PM Rishi Sunak. He has been a prominent voice supporting the defense of Ukraine, and is seen as a major driver for the UK’s continued materiel support of Kyiv.
According to the Times, Wallace’s decision was driven primarily by the fact his parliamentary district is being eliminated, and he would have to face another member in an election, as opposed to any internal cabinet politics.
In retrospect, Wallace appears to have been looking for an exit from this role for some time. In the lead up to the NATO Vilnius Summit, he launched a barely-behind-the-scenes campaign to become the alliance’s next Secretary General, but on June 21 told The Economist he was out of the running, citing the Biden administration’s push for incumbent Jens Stoltenberg to stay another year. (Days later, Stoltenberg’s term would be officially extended.)
