How The Hell Has Grant Shapps Managed To Have Five Cabinet Jobs In 12 Months?

Grant Shapps was this morning chosen by Rishi Sunak to interchange outgoing defence secretary Ben Wallace.

Extremely, it’s the fifth cupboard submit he has held in lower than a yr.

Right here, HuffPost UK examines the dizzying CV of the person who has come to embody the chaos which has engulfed the Tory authorities.

Shapps was appointed transport secretary on July 24, 2019, as Boris Johnson fashioned his first cupboard after changing Theresa Could as prime minister.

In contrast with what was to comply with, his time within the position was comparatively long-lasting, taking him all the best way to the day Johnson’s resignation on September 6, 2022.

After backing Rishi Sunak’s management marketing campaign final summer season, Shapps was initially neglected for a cupboard job by new prime minister Liz Truss.

Nevertheless, as her short-lived time in workplace reached its denouement, Shapps was referred to as upon final October to turn into residence secretary following the resignation of Suella Braverman for breaking safety guidelines.

Extremely, he solely held the job for six days after Truss following her disastrous 45 days in No.10.

Shapps bid farewell to the Dwelling Workplace to take over at BEIS in Sunak’s first cupboard.

However lower than 4 months later, in February this yr, he needed to change his enterprise playing cards but once more because the prime minister carried out a authorities shake-up.

With local weather change shifting up the political agenda, Sunak put his shut ally accountable for the newly-created division for vitality safety and internet zero.

Together with his simple reward for communication, Shapps was often despatched out to elucidate how the federal government deliberate to transition to a inexperienced economic system and hit its goal of attaining internet zero by 2050.

He was additionally a dependable Tory assault canine, accusing Labour of being within the pocket of Simply Cease Oil – even when his efforts typically backfired.

With Ben Wallace asserting that he deliberate to face down from the federal government on the subsequent reshuffle, a number of ministers had been mooted as his substitute – however none of them had been Shapps.

However regardless of having exactly no defence expertise, Sunak once more turned to his devoted good friend to take over on the Ministry of Defence when Wallace’s resignation turned official this morning.

Some Tories imagine the PM has prioritised cronyism over capacity, however others imagine it’s an impressed choice.

One former minister advised HuffPost UK: “It’s helpful to get him out of his present position, the place is he extra professional the swap to electrical automobiles than others on the high of presidency.”

One other veteran MP stated: “Making him defence secretary is an efficient name as a result of he’s competent and political. He was additionally briefly chair of the all-party group on Ukraine.”

With the following election barely a yr away, Shapps might be hoping that his days of questioning from division to division are lastly over.