LONDON — Ben Wallace is on the way out as U.K. defense secretary. Attention is already turning to who comes next.
Wallace — whose international reputation has been bolstered by the war in Ukraine — announced in a Sunday Times interview that he will resign as defense chief and eventually quit British politics altogether.
The jostling to replace him has already started — with prominent Tories well aware that helming the Ministry of Defence during war-time can do wonders for your reputation.
Here are the runners and riders to be the next person in charge of U.K. defense.
John Glen
Much of Wallace’s tenure was marked by tension between the MoD — pushing to increase capacity — and the bean counters at the Treasury, determined to keep the country’s multibillion-pound defense budget in check.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak could always resolve that tension by … installing a bean counter at the MoD.
One name in the frame is John Glen, currently second-in-command to Chancellor Jeremy Hunt at the Treasury.
A career politician with no military experience, Glen served loyally under Theresa May and then Boris Johnson in junior ministerial roles, before taking up his most senior gig yet under Sunak.
Outlets including the Sun newspaper report that Glen has recently taken an interest in all things defense. He was lately sent onto the airwaves to comment on behalf of the government when Wagner chief Yvgeny Prigozhin triggered a short-lived rebellion in Russia.
James Heappey
As the defense ministry’s second-most senior politician, Heappey often fills in for Wallace.
Heappey has also acknowledged and taken the MoD’s side in disputes with the Treasury, pointing to “robust exchanges” on the finances behind closed doors. Some reports suggest Heappey would be Wallace’s pick for the job.
Heappey has served in the department since 2019, first as procurement minister before being promoted to the armed forces brief in 2020.
He was briefly given permission to attend Cabinet during Liz Truss’ short premiership. Heappey said he would resign from that post if Truss reneged on her pledge to lift U.K. defense spending to 3 percent of GDP by 2030 — a commitment Sunak has since swerved.
Like Wallace — and unlike the four previous defense secretaries before him — Heappey has military experience, something generally considered an asset for the job.
Penny Mordaunt
The sword-wielding Commons leader, Penny Mordaunt has been defense secretary before — albeit briefly.
Mordaunt was promoted to the role in May 2019, but was swiftly dismissed by Boris Johnson when he replaced Theresa May in Downing Street two months later.
She has since enhanced her reputation as a possible future leader, including by finishing third in one of last year’s Conservative leadership contests, and then by playing a leading role in the coronation of King Charles III. Mordaunt represents Portsmouth North, a seat with a strong naval presence, and served in the Royal Naval Reserve.
Having already resisted giving her a senior role, however, Sunak may not want to further strengthen a potential rival.
James Cleverly
The foreign secretary is in the frame for Wallace’s job — though such a move would be an effective demotion from one of Britain’s great offices of state.
Like Wallace, Cleverly’s reputation has been enhanced by the conflict in Ukraine. He is regularly sent out by No. 10 to sell the government’s latest line on Ukraine at press conferences and on the broadcast sofas.
He is internally popular despite the Conservatives’ many warring factions, and is credited with helping to improve relations between the U.K. and EU.
However, moving him to defense would open up a big vacancy Sunak might want to avoid at the foreign office.
Tom Tugendhat
The security minister did himself no harm by taking part in the first of 2022’s Conservative leadership contests.
Previously the chairman of the influential House of Commons foreign affairs committee — where he took a hawkish line on China — Tugendhat got a ministerial job under Truss and was trusted to stay on under Sunak.
He also has bags of military experience, having served in Iraq and Afghanistan. He remains a military reservist.
However, the senior cabinet role of defense secretary may be seen as too big a leap for someone with less than a year of ministerial experience.
Anne-Marie Trevelyan
Trevelyan has previous experience as a defense minister, and has remained a loyal ministerial servant to every Tory prime minister from Boris Johnson onwards — despite twice being removed from the Cabinet.
The first time came in 2020, when Johnson abolished the ministry of international development — bumping Trevelyan from heading up her own department. When Sunak entered No. 10 last year, he demoted Trevelyan from her role as transport secretary to a junior ministerial post in the foreign office.
But if he wants to make amends, Trevelyan’s name has been mentioned as one in the mix for Wallace’s role.
Johnny Mercer
The outspoken Johnny Mercer is rarely out of the headlines. A military veteran, the Plymouth MP has long campaigned to improve the lives of military veterans — and has a no-holds-barred approach to social media.
He left Boris Johnson’s government amid a row over the prosecution of soldiers who served in Northern Ireland, but has thrown himself back into the veterans’ minister brief under Sunak.
His frequent loud criticism of the last three previous Conservative PMs — including Truss, who Mercer’s wife described as an “imbecile” after he was sacked by the ex-PM — may dissuade Sunak from giving Mercer what would be his most senior role yet.
