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Defence Secretary Grant Shapps joined the Conservative front-runners in being defeated in a landslide victory for Labour.
Welwyn Hatfield saw its majority of just under 11,000 seats crumble when Labour’s Andrew Lewin won his seat, giving Sir Keir Starmer’s party a projected majority of 170 seats.
Shapps, the Conservative party’s great survivor, had been his constituency MP since 2005 and won 16,078 votes to Lewin’s 19,877, a margin of almost 20 percentage points.
In his post-defeat speech, Shapps slammed the Conservative party for its “complacence” in the face of such a humiliating defeat.
“It has become clear tonight that the UK will have a new government tomorrow and I am very concerned that unless the government urgently commits to spending 2.5 per cent of GDP on defence, our armed forces could suffer,” the prime minister said.
“And I’m sure our friends in Ukraine would agree. There’s something I’m very proud of in the UK today: our steadfast and unwavering support for Ukraine and its democracy. And that must never be wavered.”
A veteran of successive governments, a trusted media performer and Conservative attack dog, he has held six ministerial roles under four prime ministers in the past 14 years.
After he became a member of parliament, it was revealed that he had been working a side job under a false name, which sparked controversy.
For at least a year after he became an MP, Mr Shapps worked as a “multi-million dollar web marketer” using the pen name Michael Green.
During David Cameron’s coalition government with the Liberal Democrats, he rose from housing secretary to co-chair of the Conservative Party and minister without portfolio.
But in a cabinet reshuffle after Cameron won a majority in the 2015 general election, he was demoted to international development secretary.
This comes after he was accused of making anonymous edits to Wikipedia entries for himself and other Conservative politicians.
Mr Shapps called the allegations “crazy”, but Wikipedia later found no conclusive evidence linking him to the account used to edit the article.
He served as transport secretary under Boris Johnson but was demoted to the backbenches when Liz Truss became prime minister.
She eventually appointed him Home Secretary in the final turbulent weeks of his tenure when Suella Braverman was sacked for leaking classified material.
But Mr Shapps only held the job for six days before Rishi Sunak became chancellor and reappointed Mr Braverman.
Well-known as an effective communicator, he has been active in the media during the coronavirus pandemic and the Conservative Party crisis, cementing his position as one of Westminster’s most experienced communicators.
A passionate supporter of Ukraine, he hosted a refugee family at his home in Hertfordshire.
In a mini-shuffle in 2023, Mr Sunak’s ally was promoted from his post as energy secretary to become defence secretary, replacing Ben Wallace.
With Russia’s war in Ukraine continuing and threats from Iran, China and North Korea persisting, he warned earlier this year that the world had moved “from post-war to pre-war”.
He also called for NATO’s new defence spending target to be increased from 2% to 2.5% of GDP, and for the UK’s target to be raised to 3%.
Despite being a trusted minister, Mr Shapps has toppled three Conservative chancellors after criticising Ms Truss’s “deplorable” economic policies after her controversial mini-budget caused the bond market to crash and mortgage costs to soar.
Mr Shapps had previously urged Johnson to choose a “dignified exit” amid the Partygate scandal and had previously called on Theresa May to leave Downing Street.
Under Ms Truss’s shaky leadership, she was labelled the “spreadsheet conspirator” after her detailed pursuit of disgruntled MPs.
Speculation has been rife over who might succeed Mr Sunak, with claims made earlier this year that he was seeking to win the support of MPs and boost his own profile ahead of a future leadership contest.