Ben Wallace: Tories’ favourite cabinet minister ‘considers stepping down’

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Ben Wallace believes his time as defence secretary is coming to an end and is mulling whether to quit the government in the autumn, it has been reported.

Mr Wallace has been in post since July 2019 but is said to be considering his future as Rishi Sunak plans a cabinet reshuffle following the summer recess.

It comes just days after Mr Wallace was criticsed for suggesting that Ukraine was treating its Western allies like “Amazon” over Kyiv’s requests for further military aid, comments Mr Sunak distanced himself from.

The defence secretary, an ally of Boris Johnson, has served under the three prime ministers and has led the UK’s response to Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine.

But his bid to become secretary-general of Nato was recently rejected, with Jens Stoltenberg’s tenure extended for a further year.

The knock-back left some of Mr Wallace’s colleagues questioning whether the MP for Wyre and Preston North wanted to continue in politics at all.

His Lancashire constituency essentially faces the axe under new boundary changes at the next general election and he has not publicly voiced his intention to stand for another seat.

Recent reports have suggested that Mr Sunak will shake up his top team before the next general election as he tries to overturn Labour’s huge poll lead.

“This reshuffle is about the future and Rishi presenting a fresher team to the public before the election,” a senior government source told The Times.

“Ben probably isn’t going to stand at the election so it feels like a natural time for him to step aside.”

The Conservatives are also facing a series of tricky by-election contests in Uxbridge and South Ruislip, Selby and Ainsty and Somerton and Frome, with some analysts predicting the party could lose all three.

Mr Wallace, 53, is a favourite among Tory members and topped the Conservative Home website’s July poll of most popular cabinet minister.

He had a net satisfaction approval rating of +77.1, ahead of second-placed foreign secretary James Cleverly on +54.4 and business and trade secretary Kemi Badenoch in third on +43.9.

Mr Sunak was near the bottom of the poll and had a negative approval rating of -2.7.

Despite his popularity with grassroots Tories, Mr Wallace twice declined to stand for the party leadership last year following the downfalls of Mr Johnson and Liz Truss, who resigned after crashing the economy.

Mr Wallace was kept in post by Mr Sunak even though he failed to back his leadership campaign and the prime minister is expected to replace him with a loyalist.