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Grant Shapps eyeing a return to Westminster, amid rumours Rishi Sunak and Oliver Dowden could quit this year
1 October 2024, 08:14
Former Defence Secretary Grant Shapps is eyeing a return to Westminster, amid rumours Rishi Sunak and Oliver Dowden could quit this year.
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The former PM and deputy PM are said to be on resignation watch to quit the Commons by the end of the year, after the Tory leadership race concludes on November 2.
And the defence secretary is eying up Mr Dowden’s seat in Parliament if he goes, multiple sources have told LBC.
When grilled by LBC last night, Mr Shapps, who lost his Welwyn Hatfield seat narrowly in July, refused to rule it out.
He said: “As for my future, we’ll see. If you ask has the itch been eradicated, no, I really enjoy public service, it is something I may come back to in future.
When asked about rumours the former PM or his deputy could quit, he added:
“All I’d say is, I’m in no rush, I’ve been very happy to adjust to spend a bit. More time doing the things I love. I’m in no rush and I’m not thinking about any of that at the moment.”
Sources close to the former PM dismissed suggestions that he was poised to quit, describing the claims as “ridiculous”.
And a source close to Mr Dowden described the suggestion as “b*****t”.
Mr Shapps also told LBC that Israel has the right 'not be fired at' by Hezbollah in defence of incursion into Lebanon
He said: “Israel is in a terrible situation, they have got rockets being fires by Hezbollah on a daily basis, it doesn’t get reported in our news. What is this tiny, small democracy, the size of Wales, supposed to do? Just allow these rockets to continually fire at them with no action? They’ve been suffering this for a very long time. Hezbollah haven’t complied with the UN resolution 1701 to pull back from the border. I hope this can be over, I support the calls for a ceasefire, but a ceasefire has to work in both directions, the rockets can’t continue.
“I understand their right not to be fired on all day long by a bunch of terrorists. Hezbollah are recognised by Britain as a bunch of terrorists.”
