Ex-Tory minister Grant Shapps quits high defence agency after ‘breaking main rule’
Sir Grant Shapps has been told he ‘allowed a perception of impropriety to develop’ after portraying himself as chair of a defence firm which was awarded a multi-million MoD contact
Former Conservative defence secretary Sir Grant Shapps has quit his job at a top aerospace firm(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
Former Tory defence secretary Sir Grant Shapps has quit his job at a top aerospace firm over concerns he broke rules on jobs for ex-ministers.
The 57-year-old – who held multiple posts in the Cameron, Johnson, Truss and Sunak cabinets – left his role as chair at Cambridge Aerospace on April 30, months after the firm secured a government missile contract worth millions of pounds.
Mr Shapps, who was defence minister under Rishi Sunak, had previously maintained that his role was strictly limited to civilian aerospace, but the company’s focus later shifted heavily towards defence.
A tranche of new letters was published on Tuesday evening between Shapps, Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (ACOBA).
Sir Laurie Magnus, Independent Adviser on Ministerial Standards revealed that he had ignored earlier warnings to correct public profiles – including on his LinkedIn page – that portrayed him as the chair of a defence company.
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Under business appointment rules, former ministers are not allowed to lobby the government for two years after leaving office, and must seek advice from ACOBA for any outside employment they wish to accept.
At the beginning of the correspondence in November 2024, he was told by ACOBA that his work with the start-up must be strictly limited to civilian aerospace, but the company later secured a multi-million-pound Ministry of Defence contract for Skyhammer interceptor missiles.
In a letter dated May 12, the former defence secretary said the global geopolitical context had changed “markedly” since the company was founded in 2024, citing recent events in Iran, and that this had blurred the lines between military and civilian aerospace protection.
Shapps apologised and said he “fully accepts” that he should have sought updated advice from the ACOBA committee, as the circumstances and nature of the company changed.
But he said “without qualification” that he had absolutely no involvement in the pursuit, negotiation, or award of the Ministry of Defence contract, and was only “abstractly aware” of the contract process.
He maintained that he never used privileged information from his time in office, did not lobby the UK Government, and did not use his contacts to influence policy or secure business for the company.
Sir Laurie Magnus told him on May 19 this year that he had “allowed a perception of impropriety to develop”, “neglected to seek fresh advice on a changing role”, and “failed to follow ACOBA’s advice to correct public domain information about Cambridge Aerospace and your role within it”.
Shapps was Conservative MP for Welwyn Hatfield until he lost his seat to Labour’s Andrew Lewin at the last General Election.
