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Ben Wallace 1991.
Robert Ben Lobban Wallace was born on
15th May 1970 in Farnborough, Kent. Educated at Millfield School, he was commissioned from Sandhurst into the
Scots Guards in 1991. Two years later, in Northern Ireland, he was MiD after the
patrol he was commanding captured an
IRA active service unit about to carry out
an attack. In 1997, he commanded the
bearer party sent to Paris to bring home
the body of Diana, Princess of Wales,
and the following year, left the army as a captain.
Having commanded soldiers from some of the most deprived areas in the country, he cited a desire to forge a more aspirational society as his reason for entering politics. Selected as a Conservative member of the Scottish parliament, he represented Northeast Scotland until 2003, when he stood down to seek selection for a Westminster seat. In the meantime, Wallace worked as overseas director for the aerospace company QinetiQ. At the 2005 general election, Wallace was elected as MP for Lancaster and Wyre.
Junior ministerial positions followed, such as shadow minister of state for Scotland, then government whip, under-secretary of state in the Northern Ireland Office, and minister of state for security. Having developed a reputation as ‘a safe pair of hands’, in July 2019, he was promoted to secretary of state for defence in Boris Johnson’s cabinet. In August 2020, he returned to Sandhurst as the Sovereign’s Representative at the commissioning parade for course 193. In his address, he told the cadets that they must master the new dimensions of cyber and space. Never afraid to speak his mind, Wallace criticised the US decision to abandon its mission in Afghanistan and initially refused to authorise a plane to evacuate former Royal Marine Pen Farthing and animals from his Kabul sanctuary. This resulted in considerable online abuse for members of his staff from Farthing’s supporters.
After the Soviet invasion in 2022, Wallace has been a staunch supporter of Ukraine, although under no illusion that the war will not be over quickly. He has, however,
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