Grant Shapps was left visibly embarrassed on live TV this morning after his lack of Army knowledge was exposed after just one question.
The former energy security and net zero minister replaced Ben Wallace who announced his resignation last week.
Wallace, Mr Shapps’ predecessor and a former Army officer, played a crucial role in generating international support to arm the Ukrainian military following Russia’s invasion.
In his resignation letter, he warned that “over the next decade, the world will get more insecure and unstable.”
This is the fifth cabinet post to be held by Shapps in a year – having served as transport secretary under Boris Johnson, home secretary for six days under Liz Truss, and as business secretary before his most recent appointment as energy secretary.
Shapps has had to defend his appointment following questions over the depth of his military knowledge and accusations that he was selected purely because of his loyalty to Rishi Sunak.
Appearing on Sky News, the new defence secretary said the department requires “highly experienced cabinet ministers”.
Putting the claims to Shapps, Kay Burley said: “There has been a lot of criticism that you got your job because it was a job for the boys as opposed to knowing anything about the Ministry of Defence and our armed services.”
In a bid to put the new defence secretary’s knowledge to the test, Burley asked Shapps how many ranks there are in the Army.
He replied: “Not off the top off my head, but on your main question, what I would say is, look, what the Ministry of Defence needs is highly-experienced cabinet ministers who can run a complex infrastructure-orientated department.
“I’ve had a lot of experience of running large budgets and complex departments.
He added: “I think it’s worth saying, by the way, as far as I can tell only two of the last fifteen defence secretaries have had any military background themselves.
“It’s not usual in a democracy, where we actually pride ourselves in having civilians run all elements of government, including our military, to have people from military backgrounds.”
Burley persisted, adding: “Do you want me to tell you how many ranks there are? From field Marshall all the way down to office cadet, number 12 in total.
By now a very red-faced Shapps, replied: “Very good. Thank you.”
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