Ben Wallace will probably be leaving the Government within the autumn earlier than stepping down as an MP on the subsequent election. The longest-serving Conservative defence secretary informed The Sunday Times: “I’m not standing next time.” However, he dominated out leaving “prematurely” and forcing a by-election - because the Tories already face three by-elections this week.

Mr Wallace additionally stated he would go away the cupboard on the subsequent reshuffle, which is predicted to be held in September.

This follows weeks of hypothesis surrounding Mr Wallace, an in depth ally of former prime minister Boris Johnson.

It is believed the 53-year-old was significantly stung by a failed UK bid to make him the subsequent head of NATO.

The US dashed Mr Wallace's hopes for the NATO job once they made it clear they needed the present chief, Jens Stoltenberg, to be given one other 12 months in cost.

Mr Wallace sometimes clashed with Rishi Sunak over funding for the armed forces after many years of cuts.

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However, he stays supportive of Mr Sunak's management and his resolution isn't associated to the Conservative Party’s present challenges.

Also within the interview with The Sunday Times, the Defence Secretary raised the spectre of extra wars sooner or later, saying: “Towards the tip of the last decade, the world goes to be far more unsafe, extra insecure.

"I think we will find ourselves in a conflict. Whether it is a cold or a warm conflict, I think we’ll be in a difficult position.”

“You could find yourself by 2030 in a position of Cold War.”

Mr Wallace's announcement means he joins the Tory exodus from Parliament since more than 40 other Tory MPs have already confirmed they plan to step down at the next election.

He served as defence secretary under three different PMs and proved remarkably popular among the Conservative grassroots.

The Tory MP topped the Conservative Home website’s July poll of most popular cabinet ministers.

He had a net 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 Wallace was the frontrunner to succeed Boris Johnson as prime minister last year before he ruled himself out.

During his time as Defence Minister, Mr Wallace has played a high-profile role in the UK's response to the war in Ukraine.

However, he made the headlines last week during a frank conversation with reporters at the NATO summit in Lithuania.

He revealed that he had told Ukraine the UK was not an "Amazon" delivery service for weapons and that people "wish to see gratitude".

This prompted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to reply: "I consider that we have been at all times grateful to the UK."

Mr Sunak also pushed back against the comments, saying Mr Zelensky had "expressed his gratitude for what we have executed on plenty of events".

Sources contained in the Ministry of Defence informed Sky News that they have been already discussing who could exchange Mr Wallace.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan, Tom Tugendhat and Jeremy Quinn are among the many names being mentioned.

Meanwhile, John Glen, chief secretary to the Treasury, was the frontrunner, based on The Times.