New Secretary of State for Defence appointed
Following the former Defence Secretary Ben Wallace's resignation announcement last month, changes to the Ministerial team at the Ministry of Defence (MOD) have been expected as part of the Prime Minister's Cabinet mini-reshuffle. As part of this reshuffle Grant Shapps, who previously held the position of Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, has been appointed as the new Secretary of State for Defence.
At the time of writing, the wider team at the MOD remains unchanged, with Andrew Murrison remaining as Minister for Defence, People & Veterans, James Cartlidge continuing in his role as Minister for Defence Procurement and James Heappey staying on as Minister for the Armed Forces.
Commenting on X (formerly Twitter) Grant Shapps said:
I’m honoured to be appointed as Defence Secretary by @RishiSunak. I’d like to pay tribute to the enormous contribution Ben Wallace has made to UK defence & global security over the last 4 years. As I get to work at @DefenceHQ. I am looking forward to working with the brave men and women of our Armed Forces who defend our nation’s security. And continuing the UK’s support for Ukraine in their fight against Putin’s barbaric invasion.
You can read Ben Wallace's resignation letter here.
Fred Sugden
Fred Sugden
Fred is responsible for techUK's activities across the Defence and National Security sectors, working to provide members with access to key stakeholders across the Defence and National Security community. Before taking on the role of Associate Director for Defence and National Security, Fred joined techUK in 2018, working as the Programme Head for Defence at techUK, leading the organisation's engagement with the Ministry of Defence. Before joining techUK, he worked at ADS, the national trade association representing Aerospace, Defence, Security & Space companies in the UK.
Fred is responsible for techUK’s market engagement and policy development activities across the Defence and National Security sectors, working closely with various organisations within the Ministry of Defence, and across the wider National Security and Intelligence community. Fred works closely with many techUK member companies that have an interest in these sectors, and is responsible for the activities of techUK's senior Defence & Security Board. Working closely with techUK's Programme Head for Cyber Security, Fred oversees a broad range of activities for techUK members.
Outside of work, Fred's interests include football (a Watford FC fan) and skiing.
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