Ben Wallace: ‘It’s been an extended slog…I’m completely satisfied to go’
Ben Wallace stated his time in politics has “been a long slog” as he prepares to step down as defence secretary, however he insisted he was leaving the navy in a greater state.
Asked how he felt about quitting a job he liked, the minister and former military officer stated: “Look, we at all times need to let go of issues. That’s life… There’s extra to life than only one job typically.
“You have lots of other things as well. And it’s just… I’m happy to go.”
Mr Wallace, 53, made headlines over the weekend by revealing that he deliberate to stop as defence secretary on the subsequent reshuffle, anticipated within the autumn, and to go away politics on the subsequent election.
It got here after a bid by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to make the veteran politician the subsequent secretary general of NATO failed final month.
Speaking to Sky News forward of an announcement on Tuesday about an up to date blueprint for the form and measurement of the armed forces, the defence secretary talked about why he had determined to stroll away from defence at the same time as battle nonetheless raged in Europe.
Read extra: UK picking apart Russian army vehicles captured in Ukraine to learn their secrets
Mr Wallace has been an arch supporter of Ukraine, pushing the UK and its allies to go additional and quicker with more and more deadly weapons.
“It’s been a long slog,” he stated, talking on the parade floor at Wellington Barracks in London.
“I left this barracks in 1998, right. I’m not standing the next election, right. I went into the Scottish Parliament in 1999. I’m not standing in the next election.
Read more: Why Ben Wallace’s days were numbered – both as defence secretary and MP
“Once I made a decision that, it is solely honest the prime minister within the subsequent reshuffle has a defence secretary that can struggle the election alongside him. There’s no level me combating election alongside a primary minister after which [say to him:] I’m going.
“It’s vital that the prime minister has one of the best crew he can for the subsequent election and I believe it is completely acceptable that I stood down.
“I’ve done four years as the defence secretary, I’ve done three years as security minister. I think we’re leaving it in a better state… Britain is back on the map in defence. I think it’s in a healthy state, it’s improving, it’s investing, it’s time for someone else.”
Asked who he thought that particular person could be as his successor, Mr Wallace declined to remark.