politics
British Defense Secretary Wallace to leave office
According to media reports, British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace is considering stepping down from his position in the autumn and possibly retiring from politics altogether. photo
© Christophe Gateau/dpa
As Secretary of Defense, Wallace has seen three Conservative Prime Ministers. According to the “Sunday Times”, the 53-year-old now wants to stop in the foreseeable future. At the weekend he attracted attention with a lengthy statement in Ukrainian.
“I’m not going to run next time,” the newspaper quoted him as saying. According to the report, however, Wallace ruled out stepping down as an MP early and thus triggering a by-election in his constituency. Wallace has been British Defense Secretary since 2019. He has already seen three prime ministers from his Conservative party in office; Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and the current Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
24 years in politics
“I entered politics in the Scottish Parliament in 1999. That’s 24 years. I’ve spent more than seven years with three phones by my bed,” Wallace told the newspaper. When asked what the phones were for, the 53-year-old replied, “Secret, secret and secret,” according to the report.
Wallace had ambitions for the post of NATO Secretary General. However, the hope of becoming Jens Stoltenberg’s successor was not fulfilled. “It’s not going to happen,” he was quoted as saying by The Economist in June. As Britain’s defense secretary, Wallace is helping to coordinate how Ukraine will be helped to defend itself against Russia.
Comments on Ukraine aid make headlines
Over the weekend, he posted a lengthy statement in Ukrainian on his Twitter account to frame his comments on aid to Ukraine. This made headlines last week. “My comments on how best to support Ukraine have attracted a great deal of interest and have been somewhat misinterpreted,” the statement said.
As someone who is very committed to mobilizing support for Ukraine, Wallace explained that he discussed the challenges of doing so. He said that sometimes Ukraine has to understand that in many countries and in some parliaments the support is not as great as in the UK. Parliaments often have competing needs, and Ukraine and Britain must continue to encourage them to give strong support.
Wallace to Ukraine: Britain is Amazon
The British media quoted Wallace last week as saying that he had advised Kiev to consider asking other states to give up their own weapons stocks in favor of Ukraine or to convince “doubting politicians” in the United States, for example. “Like it or not, people want to see some gratitude.” He told Ukrainians last year when he was given a list that Britain was not Amazon. This caused astonishment in Kiev.
Wallace has now explained that the Amazon-related comments were made last year to emphasize that the UK’s relationship with Ukraine is not “transactional” but rather “partnership”. He personally will support Ukraine on its way for as long as it is necessary.
According to the Sunday Times report, Wallace had already announced his plans to leave office to Sunak on June 16. In the meantime, Wallace had also been traded as a possible prime minister himself, but declined. According to the Times, Conservative Prime Minister Sunak is preparing to reshuffle his top team ahead of the next election. His party is currently well behind the Labor Party in polls.
Sunday Times report BBC report Sky News report Times newspaper report Sky News report Information on Ben Wallace The Economist on Ben Wallace and NATO Independent report Daily Mail report Twitter thread on his account Sky News report last week Guardian report last week Times report last week