5 gaffes and controversies from new Tory Defence Secretary Grant Shapps
A top Tory who lived a double life as an internet marketing salesman named Michael Green has been appointed Defence Secretary.
Grant Shapps was handed his fifth Cabinet job in less than a year following the resignation of Ben Wallace as defence chief this morning. During a period of unprecedented political chaos, he was booted out as Transport Secretary by Liz Truss, then made Home Secretary for six days as her administration collapsed. Under Rishi Sunak he became Business Secretary, then Energy Secretary and now moves to the Ministry of Defence.
The Sunak ally has a wealth of Government experience and has often taken the hit by defending Tory chaos on miserable media rounds. But he first hit the headlines back in 2015 when it emerged he had a second job running a get-rich-quick scheme under the pseudonym Michael Green for at least year after he first became an MP.
A trained pilot, Mr Shapps grew up in a musical family - his brother Andre played keyboards with post-punk band Big Audio Dynamite and his cousin, Mick Jones, was a founder member of The Clash. But Mr Shapps turned his attention to politics at a young age, becoming national president of the Jewish youth organisation BBYO. He mounted a failed bid to become an MP in 1997 but gained the parliamentary seat of Welwyn Hatfield in 2005.
His 18-year career has an MP has not been without controversies. Here are some of his weirdest moments.
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Get-rich-quick schemes under alias
Mr Shapps's ascent through the Tory ranks hit the buffers in 2015 when it emerged he had worked as a marketer of get-rich-quick schemes under the alias Michael Green. A letter obtained by the Sunday Mirror from 2004 showed he tried to flog an online toolkit called "How To Become Stinking RICH Online" – which he claimed would make investors $100,000. It included pictures of Mr Shapps and his son in his private plane, his luxury car collection and his six-bedroom home as evidence of money-making skills.
He repeatedly denied having a second job while he was an MP. But in 2015 he was forced to admit he had "screwed up" by "over-firmly denying" using the alias after he was elected.
Grant Shapps has been named as the new Defence Secretary after holding a string of Cabinet jobs (PA)Wikipedia editing scandal
The-then Tory chairman got into hot water when he was accused of anonymously editing Wikipedia entries for himself and fellow Tories. Reports at the time suggested Mr Shapps or someone acting on his behalf was engaged in "sock puppetry", where users create a fake online identity to mislead people. Entries in the online encyclopaedia were tweaked by an account called Contribsx covering his performance at school and political gaffes. It also made unflattering changes to the pages of other Tories like Philip Hammond.
The-then PM David Cameron stood by him and Mr Shapps strenuously denied the "bonkers" allegations. An investigation by Wikipedia found no definitive evidence linking the account used to alter the entries with Mr Shapps, and the encyclopaedia administrator who blocked the account and revealed the allegations to the media was criticised in an internal inquiry. Mr Shapps was removed from the post of party chairman and made an International Development minister after the 2015 election - a move widely seen as a demotion.
Caught out by his own Covid travel rules
The-then Transport Secretary was caught out by his own Covid travel rules in 2020 when he was forced to cut short his summer holiday. Mr Shapps, who presided over the ever-changing Covid travel rules, had already flown out to Spain for a sunshine getaway with his family when ministers decided to scrap the travel corridor with the country.
He then had to self-isolate at home for 14 days after the sudden decision to axe quarantine-free travel with Spain. The last-minute decision left thousands of holidaymakers in the lurch.
Posting airbrushed picture without Boris Johnson
Mr Shapps was forced to delete a tweet in January after it emerged that Boris Johnson had been airbrushed out of a picture celebrating a rocket launch in Cornwall. The picture showed him laughing during a visit to the Virgin Orbit spacecraft but eagled-eyed Twitter users noted that Mr Johnson had been photoshopped out.
The original image, which was posted on the No10 Flickr account, showed the ex-PM front and centre. Part of Mr Johnson's elbow was still visible in the doctored image.
Grant Shapps tweeted the image, which had been doctored to remove Boris Johnson (Twitter)A spokesperson for Mr Shapps said: "Grant wasn’t aware anyone had edited the picture. He removed it as soon as it was pointed out. Obviously he wouldn’t endorse anyone rewriting history by removing the former PM from a picture. He was proud to serve in Boris' Government"
The original image shows Boris Johnson front and centre (Twitter)Saying he voted for Brexit after previous claims he backed Remain
The top Tory claimed he had backed Brexit as he insisted Britain was better off outside the EU. He told Sky News's Sophy Ridge on Sunday: “I happened to vote for Brexit as it happens, but I actually do think it’s working in favour for this country.”
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But critics pointed out he had previously spoken about how he supported the Remain campaign. He also tweeted in 2018: "I'm a #Brexit moderate who voted #Remain, but since we're going to #Leave we must make it work for us. I can't therefore see that either parliament or I would vote for Britain to be locked into a permanent open-ended customs union arrangement!"
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