ARMED Forces Minister James Heappey is set to leave the Government and quit as an MP – in yet another blow to Rishi Sunak.
As first reported by The Times, Government sources confirmed to the PA news agency that the Conservative MP for Wells, Somerset, will leave his role at the end of the month.
The veteran has also confirmed in a letter posted to Twitter/X that he will stand down from the Commons at the next General Election.
He said while it was a “painful decision” not to contest the election, he wanted to “prioritise my family and pursue a different career”.
“After much reflection, I am afraid I have taken the painful decision not to stand as a candidate in the forthcoming general election,” he said.
READ MORE: 'Embarrassing' test missile launch shows 'wider failure' of UK defence strategy
“I am enormously grateful to the new Wells and Mendip Hills Conservative Association for having selected me as their candidate at the special general meeting last year but, as you know, a great deal has changed in my life over the last few years and I have concluded that now is the time to step away from politics, prioritise my family and pursue a different career.”
Heappey (above) pledged to support the Prime Minister until “in Government, until such time as he wishes me to step down, and then from the backbenches”.
The Times reported he will make a final appearance at the dispatch box for defence questions a week on Monday
The paper quoted an anonymous Tory MP who said Heappey had been on “resignation watch” from his ministerial role after telling colleagues privately that he was unhappy about the level of defence spending.
The Ministry of Defence said it would not be commenting.
Heappey served in the Army, reaching the rank of major, according to a profile on his website.
During a 10-year career in the Rifles, he served in Afghanistan, Iraq, Northern Ireland and Kenya.
He had been hotly tipped to succeed Ben Wallace as defence secretary following his resignation last year.
READ MORE: Defence speech by Grant Shapps was based on a chilling assumption
But Sunak instead gave the Cabinet post to Grant Shapps, who has no military experience.
Heappey becomes the 62nd MP to announce they will leave Parliament, with former prime minister Theresa May (below) and former party chairman Sir Brandon Lewis some of the most recent additions.
As of Friday, 98 MPs have said publicly they will either be standing down or will not contest their current seat.
Sunak on Thursday ruled out holding an election on May 2 to coincide with local elections, having previously indicated he will send the country to the polls in the latter half of 2024.
Richard Foord, the Liberal Democrat defence spokesman, said: “This is yet another blow to Rishi Sunak’s authority, as another Conservative minister abandons his failing Government.
“Sunak needs to put the country out of its misery and call an election now instead of allowing this farce to drag on any longer.”
The UK Government’s record on defence spending has come under close scrutiny due to global tensions, including Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Middle East conflict between Israel and Hamas, and Beijing flexing its military might in the South China Sea.
During a visit to Poland on Wednesday, Shapps called for the inclusion of the 3% target in the Conservatives’ election manifesto, saying: “I want a bigger budget.”
Shapps (above) said: “Defence is the best way to protect ourselves against a military conflict – you have to show your adversaries – so I am clearly in favour [of a 3% target].”
Research by the Royal United Services Institute in 2022 suggested that increasing defence spending to 3% of GDP by 2030, as suggested by Liz Truss’s government, would require £157 billion in additional spending over the following eight years.
Shapps’s call follows demands from security minister Tom Tugendhat and Foreign Office minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan that spending rise from 2.27% of GDP to 2.5% immediately.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s Budget last week contained no new money for defence despite concerns about the state of Britain’s armed forces and the Government’s commitment to spend 2.5% of GDP on the military “as soon as economic conditions allow”.
That decision has drawn criticism from some quarters, including former service chiefs such as Lord Stirrup, who served as chief of the defence staff between 2006 and 2010, and warned this week that basing military spending on the financial climate rather than threats to national security was not “any kind of prudent”.
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