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Ben Wallace (politician)

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This article is about British politician. For the American basketball player, see Ben Wallace.
The Right Honourable
Ben Wallace
MP
Secretary of State for Defence
Incumbent
Assumed office
17 July 2016
Prime MinisterBoris Johnson
Preceded byPenny Mordaunt
Minister of State for Security and Economic Crime
Incumbent
Assumed office
17 July 2016
Prime MinisterTheresa May
Preceded byJohn Hayes
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
In office
12 May 2015 – 17 July 2016
Prime MinisterDavid Cameron
Preceded byAndrew Murrison
Succeeded byKris Hopkins
Member of Parliament
for Wyre and Preston North
Lancaster and Wyre (2005–2010)
Incumbent
Assumed office
5 May 2005
Preceded byHilton Dawson
Majority12,246 (23.3%)
Member of the Scottish Parliament
for North East Scotland
In office
6 May 1999 – 31 March 2003
Preceded byConstituency created
Succeeded byNanette Milne
Personal details
Born
Robert Ben Lobban Wallace

(1970-05-15) 15 May 1970 (age 54)
Farnborough, Kent, England
Political partyConservative
Spouse(s)Liza, née Cooke[1]
Children3
Alma materRoyal Military Academy Sandhurst
OccupationPolitician
ProfessionArmy Officer
AwardsMentioned in Despatches (Northern Ireland)
Websitewww.benwallace.org.uk
Military service
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Branch/serviceBritish Army
Years of service1990–1998
RankCaptain
UnitScots Guards
Battles/warsThe Troubles

Robert Ben Lobban Wallace PC (born 15 May 1970) is a British politician serving as Minister of State for Security and Economic Crime since 2016. A member of the Conservative Party, he has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Wyre and Preston North since 2010. Wallace was first elected as the MP for Lancaster and Wyre in 2005. He has been appointed Secretary of State for Defence as of 24th July 2019.

Early life and career

Wallace was born on 15 May 1970 in Farnborough, Kent. He was privately educated at Millfield School in Somerset.[2] He studied politics under Clive Thomas, who also taught Julian Smith MP and Margot James MP.[citation needed] After school Wallace became a ski instructor with the Austrian National Ski School in the village of Alpbach in Austria.[3] During that period his parents moved to Pennsylvania in the United States where they lived for seven years.

Military and business career

Aged 19, Wallace attended the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, before being commissioned as a platoon commander into the Scots Guards. During his eight-year army career until 1998 he served in Northern Ireland, Germany, Cyprus and Central America.[3] His last role was as Company Commander of F Coy Scots Guards.[citation needed]

From 2003 to 2005 he was overseas director of QinetiQ, the UK's former Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA).[2]

Political career

Scottish Parliament

After leaving the Army, Wallace became a Conservative Member of the Scottish Parliament in 1999, as a list MSP for North East Scotland.[4][5] He stood down in 2003, as he sought selection for a Westminster constituency in England.[4][5] Wallace was the Scottish Conservatives' shadow health spokesman during that time.[5]

United Kingdom Parliament

Wallace won the Lancaster and Wyre Constituency from Labour in 2005. The election result saw a 481 vote (0.92%) Labour majority swing to a 4171 vote (8.00%) Conservative majority. The overall swing was 4.50% from Labour to Conservative. This constituency was number nine on the 2005 Conservative 'target list'.[citation needed] He subsequently became the Member of Parliament (MP) for Wyre and Preston North after winning the seat at the 2010 general election; he was re-elected in 2015 and 2017.

From 2005 to 2010 Wallace was a member of the Scottish Affairs Select Committee.[6] From 2006 to 2010 Wallace was the Shadow Minister of State for Scotland. He was Chairman of the British–Iran Parliamentary Group from 2006 to 2014. On 13 November 2008, Wallace was awarded Campaigner of the Year in the Spectator/Threadneedle Parliamentarian awards, for his work promoting transparency of MPs expenses.[7][8]

Wallace faced criticism locally after it was revealed he had the fourth highest expenses claim of any MP in the UK in 2008, claiming £175,523 on top of his £63,000 salary. However, he defended the costs by arguing that the constituency has an electorate that is nearly 20% larger than the average one in England.[9] In February 2008, in conjunction with The Sunday Times, Wallace published all his expenses and receipts.[citation needed]

Following his re-election to Parliament, Wallace was appointed as Parliamentary Private Secretary to the then-Justice Secretary and Lord Chancellor, and later Minister without Portfolio in the Cabinet Office, Ken Clarke MP.[citation needed] On 4 September 2012, Wallace turned down a position as a Lord Commissioner of the Treasury during the cabinet reshuffle.[citation needed] to remain Clarke's PPS.[10] In July 2014, as Clarke returned to the back benches, Wallace was again offered a job in Government as a whip. This time he accepted. In May 2015 he was promoted to Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Northern Ireland Office. After the EU referendum, the new Prime Minister, Theresa May, promoted him to Minister of State for Security in the Home Office. In December 2017 the Ministerial portfolio was extended to include Economic Crime. He was the Security Minister during the terror attacks of 2017 and the Salisbury attempted assassination of Sergei Skripal Sergei Skripal

Wallace was appointed to the Privy Council for his role in coordinating the government response to the 2017 Westminster attack.[11]

In January 2016, the Labour Party unsuccessfully proposed an amendment in Parliament that would have required private landlords to make their homes "fit for human habitation". According to Parliament's register of interests, Wallace was one of 72 Conservative MPs who voted against the amendment who personally derived an income from renting out property. The Conservative Government stated that they believed homes should be fit for human habitation but did not want to pass the new law that would explicitly require it.[12]

Wallace supported the UK staying in the European Union prior to the 2016 referendum.[13]

In February 2018, Wallace was criticised by political opponents for promoting unfounded smears on the leader of the Labour Party. The Sun newspaper had alleged that during the 1980s Jeremy Corbyn had colluded with a Communist spy. In response to the allegations, a spokesman for Corbyn stated that any suggestion that the Labour leader had been an agent, asset or informer was "an entirely false and a ridiculous smear".[14] Amidst these allegations, Wallace was criticised for tweeting: "'Jeremy has been interested in foreign policy issues his entire political career' [sic] - Labour MP Louise Haigh, BBC Daily Politics - yup so was Kim Philby". Wallace later defended his tweet, and said he "wasn't comparing, just saying that being interested in foreign policy isn't an answer to the allegations being made". Wallace told Sky News: 'It was a light-hearted dig at Louise Haigh's excuse that Corbyn was interested in foreign affairs ... I was simply saying Kim Philby was also interested in foreign affairs'.[15][16]

Personal life

In 2001, he married Liza and they have three children. He employs his wife as a part-time Senior Research Assistant on a salary up to £29,000.[17] Wallace currently resides near Lancaster and in London.[18][19] He enjoys watching rugby, skiing and motorsport.[citation needed]

References

  1. ^ "House of Commons – The Register of Members' Financial Interests – Part 2: Part 2". Publications.parliament.uk. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  2. ^ a b "Ben Wallace: Electoral history and profile". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 2 September 2014. Retrieved 4 January 2010. {{cite news}}: |archive-date= / |archive-url= timestamp mismatch; 20 September 2014 suggested (help)
  3. ^ a b "Minister of State for Security and Economic Crime - The Rt Hon Ben Wallace MP". gov.uk. Retrieved 20 April 2019.
  4. ^ a b "Ben Wallace: Captain Fantastic heads south of the border". The Scotsman. 26 March 2002. Retrieved 15 April 2019.
  5. ^ a b c "Farewell to the parliament". BBC News. 2 April 2003. Retrieved 15 April 2019.
  6. ^ "Mr Ben Wallace MP – UK Parliament". Parliament.uk. 20 July 2015. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  7. ^ "Matthew d'Ancona's Parliamentarian awards speech". Spectator.co.uk. 13 November 2008. Archived from the original on 29 May 2010. Retrieved 16 December 2018.
  8. ^ Andrew Gimson (13 November 2008). "Sketch: George Osborne laughs it off". The Telegraph. Retrieved 16 December 2018.
  9. ^ "MP's biscuit claim among expenses". The Garstang Courier. The Garstang Courier. 1 April 2008. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
  10. ^ "Cameron: Man or mouse? Man – and butcher! The Tory Diary". Conservativehome.blogs.com. 6 September 2012. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  11. ^ Agerholm, Harriet (24 March 2017). "MPs Tobias Ellwood and Ben Wallace appointed to Privy Council in honour of Westminster response". The Independent. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
  12. ^ "Tories vote down law requiring landlords make their homes fit for human habitation". Independent. 13 January 2016. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
  13. ^ Goodenough, Tom (16 February 2016). "Which Tory MPs back Brexit, who doesn't and who is still on the fence?". The Spectator. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
  14. ^ Fisher, Lucy (15 February 2018). "Jeremy Corbyn 'can't be trusted' after claims he met Soviet spy, says Gavin Williamson". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 21 February 2018.
  15. ^ "Andrew Neil Clobbers Tory Minister Steve Baker For 'Outrageous Smears' Against Jeremy Corbyn". HuffPost UK. 21 February 2018. Retrieved 21 February 2018.
  16. ^ "Tory MP deletes Corbyn spy claim after threat of legal action". Sky News. Retrieved 21 February 2018.
  17. ^ "IPSA". GOV.UK. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
  18. ^ "About Ben". Personal website. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
  19. ^ "IPSA record". IPSA. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
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Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Lancaster and Wyre
2005–2010 		Constituency Abolished
New constituency Member of Parliament for Wyre and Preston North
2010–present 		Incumbent
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