Britain’s defence minister resigns after losing bid for top Nato job

LONDON – Mr Ben Wallace on Thursday confirmed his resignation as Britain’s defence minister, offering the government his continued support while warning Prime Minister Rishi Sunak not to see defence as a “discretionary spend”.

Mr Wallace, who helped lead Britain’s response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, said in July that he wanted to step down after four years in the role and would quit as a lawmaker at the next national election to pursue new opportunities.

Seen as a strong advocate for increased spending on the armed forces, Mr Wallace had hoped to be a potential successor to North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg, but the former Norwegian prime minister’s contract was extended by another year.

The departure of the popular Mr Wallace saddened some in the governing Conservative Party, but the move was unlikely to change London’s support for Ukraine.

In his official resignation letter, Mr Wallace renewed his appeal for the government not to turn to defence to make spending cuts.

“The Ministry of Defence is back on the path to being once again world class with world-class people,” he wrote.

“I know you agree with me that we must not return to the days where defence was viewed as a discretionary spend by government, and savings were achieved by hollowing out.”

He posted on X, formerly known as Twitter: “That’s all folks. Been a privilege to serve this great nation.”

Mr Sunak praised Mr Wallace for his work, saying in response in a letter: “You have served our country in three of the most demanding posts in government: defence secretary, security minister and Northern Ireland minister.”

“I fully understand your desire to step down after eight years of exacting ministerial duties.”

A former captain in the British army, Mr Wallace, 53, was appointed defence minister in 2019 by his friend and ally, former prime minister Boris Johnson, after holding junior ministerial roles in earlier governments.

Mr Wallace, alongside Mr Johnson, soon became an ardent supporter of Ukraine after Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022, cajoling other nations to help supply requests for weapons from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

But his frustration over not getting the Nato post earlier in 2023 bubbled over at the military alliance’s summit in July, when he said Ukraine needed to show gratitude and not treat its allies like “Amazon”.

He later said in Ukrainian on Twitter that his comments “were somewhat misrepresented”, and he instead wanted to emphasise that London’s relationship with Kyiv was not transactional but more of a partnership. REUTERS