Grant Shapps (born 14 September 1968) is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Defence from August 2023 to July 2024.

In September 2022, Johnson's successor, Liz Truss, dismissed Shapps as Transport Secretary and he returned to the backbenches.

In October 2022, amid a government crisis, Truss appointed Shapps as Home Secretary, replacing Suella Braverman.

[10] Grant's brother, André Shapps, is a musician who was a member of Big Audio Dynamite (BAD) between 1994 and 1998, playing keyboards.

Their cousin Mick Jones was a key figure in British punk rock of the late 1970s and a founding member of both the Clash and Big Audio Dynamite.

[25] In September 2012, Google blacklisted 19 of Shapps' business websites for violating rules on copyright infringement related to the web scraping-based TrafficPayMaster software sold by them.

[28][29] Shapps's use of the names Michael Green, Corinne Stockheath and Sebastian Fox attracted media attention in 2012.

Shapps made his first foray into politics in 1990, when he was a Conservative candidate for a Labour-held seat in Old Moat ward on Manchester City Council.

[36][37] In 1994, 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.

[38] Shapps unsuccessfully contested North Southwark and Bermondsey at the 1997 general election, finishing third with 6.9% of the vote behind the incumbent Liberal Democrat MP Simon Hughes and the Labour Party candidate.

[39][40] Shapps stood for Welwyn Hatfield at the 2001 general election, finishing second with 40.4% of the vote behind the incumbent Labour MP Melanie Johnson.

[50] In October 2017, Shapps called for Theresa May's resignation, saying that the party could not "bury its head in the sand" in the wake of the June election.

[58] In April 2009, Shapps launched the Conservative Party's ninth green paper on policy, "Strong Foundations".

As Minister of State for Housing, Shapps promoted plans for flexible rent and controversially ended automatic lifetime social tenancies.

[76] That September, Shapps complained to the Secretary-General of the United Nations about a press release issued in its name stating that the reforms went against human rights.

"[78] His statement was criticised by Andrew Dilnot, Chairman of the UK Statistics Authority, who said that the figure for those previously on incapacity and withdrawing was just 19,700.

In October 2013, Shapps told The Daily Telegraph that the BBC could forfeit the right to its licence fee if it did not resolve its "culture of waste and secrecy".

[79] His comments sparked a vigorous response from a former BBC Director General Greg Dyke who said that "politicians shouldn't define partiality".

Opponents criticised Shapps of being patronising to working people by believing their pastimes were limited to bingo and beer, and it drew critical media coverage in The Guardian.

[82] In 2012, The Guardian reported that Shapps's Wikipedia article had been edited from his office to remove embarrassing information and correct an error.

[90] English Wikipedia's Arbitration Committee found there was "no significant evidence" to link the Contribsx account to Shapps.

[97]In August 2018, the Financial Times reported[98] that it had discovered a "secret pay deal" between Shapps and OpenBrix, a British blockchain property portal company.

When asked why the Government chose not to bail out the company, Shapps said, "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.

He was accused by Andy McDonald MP, Shadow Transport Secretary, of "putting his hobbyhorse aviation ahead of the greater good" at a time when the CAA was involved in Brexit planning, Heathrow Airport expansion, and dealing with the collapse of Thomas Cook Group.

[104][105] He was later accused by MPs Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat) and Grahame Morris (Labour) of undermining the CAA by registering his private, UK-based plane in the USA instead of the UK, while Transport Secretary.

He also set up a scheme, offering rebates to pilots who purchase anti-collision "electronic conspicuity" devices used to detect positions of other aircraft in the air.

[106] In May 2020, Shapps unveiled investment in cycle lanes totalling £250 million and plans for e-scooters to be trialled on British roads.

[115] Following a cabinet reshuffle, Shapps was moved into the newly created portfolio of Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero.

He also announced details of a new Maritime Capability Coalition for Ukraine, alongside his Norwegian counterpart, Bjørn Arild Gram, which their respective countries are leading.

[18] Shapps lists his recreations in Who's Who as "private pilot with IMC [Instrument Meteorological Conditions] and night qualifications".