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Sir Grant Shapps is a British politician who served in various cabinet positions under Prime Ministers David Cameron, Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak between 2012 and 2024, lastly as Secretary of State for Defence from August 2023 to July 2024. Shapps served as Conservative Party Co-chairman from 2010 to 2012 under Cameron, Transport Secretary from 2019 to 2022 under Johnson, and briefly…
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politics · British politician (born 1968) · politician · writer · businessperson · minister · also Grant Shapps, Michael Green, Shapps
Born 14 September 1968 · Q478596
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Home Secretary Grant Shapps first public address
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record in office? He has had the housing brief in opposition and government for the last five years and Shapps has said homelessness was a big motivating factor for his interest in politics. However, Labour shadow housing minister Jack Dromey is scathing about such claims:
88%BBC
“Grant Shapps derives no income, dividends, or other income from this business, which is run by his wife, Belinda, with a registered office in Pinner in north-west London. He is quite simply not involved in this business.”
“record in office? He has had the housing brief in opposition and government for the last five years and Shapps has said homelessness was a big motivating factor for his interest in politics. However, Labour shadow housing minister Jack Dromey is scathing about such claims:”
Public attention spiked: 4,164 Wikipedia readers in one day, 17.9× the usual 233, with 2 article edits. Editors noted: Added citation for reports that he was blocked from restanding.
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BBC: Grant Shapps
The Guardian: Man jailed for seven years after sharing Grant Shapps’s details with ‘Russian spies’
The Guardian: Man found guilty over sharing Grant Shapps’s details with ‘Russian spies’
The Guardian: Grant Shapps defends use of superinjunction to suppress Afghan data leak
The Guardian: Grant Shapps pushed for MoD Afghan superinjunction to remain in place
The Guardian: Penny Mordaunt and Grant Shapps among slew of Tory cabinet ministers unseated
“There is no way that the Treasury, given its very tight hold on the fiscal regime, would approve spending 2.5% of GDP on defence if it did not have confidence in how we will spend it. Again, I refer the hon. Gentleman to the excellent work of the integrated procurement model, which will make all the difference. I am very happy to engage with him on individual defence decisions, but the fact of the matter is that if we do not commit to spending the money, we cannot put the pipeline in place to bu”
“I am pleased that the hon. Gentleman recognises that my hon. Friend the Minister for Defence Procurement has written to him on the subject, and I have no doubt that he will wish to engage with the hon. Gentleman further.”
“We are very mindful of the situation in Ukraine, particularly in Kharkiv where Russia is making, or trying to make, inroads. This is an existential battle for all civilised countries that believe in democracy and freedom, and it is the case that we must ensure that the world continues to keep up the efforts. It is not right for there to be pauses in our support and, when there are, the sort of losses we have seen on—I hope and believe—a temporary basis in Kharkiv around the villages to the north”
“My hon. Friend is absolutely right. It is one reason why this country has been at the forefront of providing drones. Indeed, we have made an enormous £325 million contribution to the drones coalition and provided 4,000 drones in the latest package, and there is a lot more to come for Ukraine. This bloody war is now killing, or causing casualties to, up to 1,000 Russians a day, and it needs to come to a stop.”
“I very much appreciate the hon. Gentleman’s support for the ongoing support to Ukraine of £3 billion a year. I gently say to him that it is not possible to provide that support without a route to getting there, with the 2.5%; otherwise, it will come out of the rest of the budget. I, too, read the story over the weekend, and it is simply not the case. We will have, in fact, 181 parachuters—exactly the same number as those who jumped in that location on D-day.”
“The armed forces cannot afford a Labour Government if Labour cannot answer one simple question: when?”
“My hon. Friend is right to point that out, because some assumptions have been a little misplaced in this House until now. We will ensure that we can do a whole range of things that will help to make this country stronger and more secure. On that, he has my word.”
“As the Minister for Armed Forces pointed out, the licensing regime is entirely independent of that. We support the country. We support the only <span id="635" class="column-number" data-column-number="635"></span>democracy in that part of the world. We do not support the individuals in that Government; we support the country itself.”
“We never announced that she was being mothballed, so I am very interested to hear about these artefacts. I was on HMS Albion the other week, so I will be very interested to engage on what has been removed. Once again, I can clarify that both those ships—both used by our Royal Marines—will remain in active service. It is the case that more modern ships are being procured, which is possible only because we are prepared to put a date to spending 2.5% on defence.”
“That is absolutely right. It is very important that our Royal Marines are able to continue their activities, so not only will we keep the existing ships running but we have announced that we will build up to six new multi-role ships, which is all part of our programme to build 28 ships. That is why our shipyards are so very busy.”
“I am committed to ensuring that the defence uplift to 2.5% means that we spend the money as efficiently as possible. The tremendous work by my hon. Friend the Minister for Defence Procurement on the integrated procurement model is very important to the outcome of that spending.”
“I was recently at Faslane in Scotland, and I can tell the right hon. Gentleman that that is not what the people employed in the defence sector think about Trident. I can tell him something else: having stood at the Dispatch Box and been Defence Secretary, I know that the defence of this country is vastly supported by having our nuclear deterrent. In my view, every other issue that we face comes after the defence of this realm.”
“The right hon. Gentleman asks about the Trident programme, but I am unclear about whether he means the Dreadnought submarine part of that. Of course, different parts of a programme often combine together, but the Dreadnoughts themselves will enter service in the early 2030s.”
“The hon. Gentleman may not be aware that we have just provided the largest number of personnel to the largest NATO exercise in Europe since the cold war—Steadfast Defender, which is the largest exercise for 40 years. The United Kingdom can be very proud of the number of people we supplied on land, in the air and at sea. I have to make a fundamental point to those on the Opposition Front Bench: we cannot just wish ourselves to security; we have to spend 2.5% of GDP, and we have to set out the tra”
Yahoo: Grant Shapps’s jet left ‘defenceless’ after ministers baulked at cost of protective systems
Bloomberg L.P.: Grant Shapps Blocks UK Aid Drops in Gaza Over Risk to Civilians
Middle East Eye: How Grant Shapps exposed Britain's grand imperial delusions
Full Fact rated the claim “Grant Shapps ordered Sadiq Khan to extend ULEZ.” While a funding agreement between the government and Transport for London in 2020 did state that proposals to expand ULEZ should be brought forward, the Department for Transport says this referred to existing plans to extend the boundary as far as the North and South Circular Roads, not the expansion across all of Greater London which is set to take place later this month..
Shown as reported and rated by a fact checker, not as an established fact.
Yahoo: Grant Shapps defends Rishi Sunak as Tory party unrest grows following local election losses
Claimed: “Grant Shapps was the only politician with Virgin Orbit chief executive Dan Hart and a colleague while standing in front of the LauncherOne vehicle at the spaceport at Newquay Airport in Cornwall.” — rated False: This meeting did not happen as depicted in the image. The then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson was stood between Mr Hart and Mr Shapps, as shown in this image on the official Number 10 Flickr account which was taken on June 9, 2021. by PA Media.
Shown as reported and rated by a fact checker, not as an established fact.
Career landmark: Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (2023–2023).
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Career landmark: Secretary of State for Defence (2023–2024).
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Career landmark: Home Secretary (2022–2022).
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Career landmark: Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade (2022–2023).
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Full Fact rated the claim “Grant Shapps said that people who are double vaccinated are more likely to get and carry Covid-19.” Grant Shapps did say this. His office has explained that it was a simple mistake. He intended to say that people who are double vaccinated are much less likely to get and carry Covid-19..
Shown as reported and rated by a fact checker, not as an established fact.
The Times reported that the Airfield Advisory Team set up by Shapps within CAA lobbied against the redevelopment of private airfields used by general aviation
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Which set out the long-term strategy for rail in northern England and the Midlands
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Shapps endorsed Boris Johnson's successful 2019 Conservative leadership bid and subsequently returned to cabinet as Transport Secretary
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“I fear it would have kept them afloat for a very short period of time and then we would have been back in the position of needing to repatriate people in any case.”
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Career landmark: Secretary of State for Transport (2019–2022).
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Career landmark: member of the 58th Parliament of the United Kingdom (2019–2024).
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Career landmark: member of the 57th Parliament of the United Kingdom (2017–2019).
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Career landmark: Minister of State for Foreign Affairs (2015–2015).
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Career landmark: Minister of State for International Development (2015–2015).
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Career landmark: member of the 56th Parliament of the United Kingdom (2015–2017).
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Threatened legal action against a constituent who had stated on Facebook that he had
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Shapps speaking on benefit reforms including capping benefits so that no out-of-work household can claim more than the average working family earns said that "nearly a million people have come off incapacity benefit
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Career landmark: Chairman of the Conservative Party (2012–2015).
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Shapps launched StreetLink – a website and phone app for the public to bring help to rough sleepers
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Shapps's use of the names Michael Green, Corinne Stockheath and Sebastian Fox attracted media attention in 2012.
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Career landmark: Minister without Portfolio (2012–2015).
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The Guardian reported that Shapps's Wikipedia article had been edited from his office to remove embarrassing information and correct an error
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Career landmark: Minister of State for Local Government, Faith and Communities (2010–2012).
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Career landmark: Minister of State for Housing (2010–2012).
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Career landmark: member of the 55th Parliament of the United Kingdom (2010–2015).
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Career landmark: Member of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom (2010).
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Shapps stood down as a director in July 2008; his wife remained as director until the company was dissolved in 2014.
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Was promoted to the Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Minister for Housing and Planning
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Career landmark: member of the 54th Parliament of the United Kingdom (2005–2010).
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And continued his local campaigning over the next four years
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Shapps was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma and underwent chemotherapy and radiotherapy, recovering from the cancer by the following year
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In 1999, Shapps was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma and underwent chemotherapy and radiotherapy, recovering from the cancer by the following year.
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For the North Southwark and Bermondsey constituency but was defeated
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Shapps stood as a Conservative candidate for the two-member St Andrews ward in the London Borough of Brent local elections, but was unsuccessful in being returned as a councillor, with Labour narrowly holding both seats
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Aged 22, Shapps founded PrintHouse Corporation, a design, print, website creation and marketing business in London, based on a collapsed printing business he purchased from the receiver
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In 1990, aged 22, Shapps founded PrintHouse Corporation, a design, print, website creation and marketing business in London, based on a collapsed printing business he purchased from the receiver.
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When he was a Conservative candidate for a Labour-held seat in Old Moat ward on Manchester City Council
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And then for the London Borough of Brent in 1994 but was unsuccessful both times
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Was involved in a car crash in Kansas, United States, that left him in a coma for a week
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Born 1968-09-14.
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There is no way that the Treasury, given its very tight hold on the fiscal regime, would approve spending 2.5% of GDP on defence if it did not have confidence in how we will spend it. Again, I refer the hon. Gentleman to the excellent work of the integrated procurement model, which will make all the difference. I am very happy to engage with him on individual defence decisions, but the fact of the matter is that if we do not commit to spending the money, we cannot put the pipeline in place to bu
We are very mindful of the situation in Ukraine, particularly in Kharkiv where Russia is making, or trying to make, inroads. This is an existential battle for all civilised countries that believe in democracy and freedom, and it is the case that we must ensure that the world continues to keep up the efforts. It is not right for there to be pauses in our support and, when there are, the sort of losses we have seen on—I hope and believe—a temporary basis in Kharkiv around the villages to the north
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. It is one reason why this country has been at the forefront of providing drones. Indeed, we have made an enormous £325 million contribution to the drones coalition and provided 4,000 drones in the latest package, and there is a lot more to come for Ukraine. This bloody war is now killing, or causing casualties to, up to 1,000 Russians a day, and it needs to come to a stop.
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