Michael Fallon Confirmed as Defence Secretary

The Right Honourable Michael Fallon has been confirmed as the new Defence Secretary. Previously Mr Fallon was Minister for Business and Enterprise, Minister of State for Energy and Minister for Portsmouth.

He has been the Conservative MP for Sevenoaks, Kent, since 1997 and was MP for Darlington from 1983 to 1992. He was a minister in the Department for Education and Science from 1990 to 1992.

More recently he has held positions on the Treasury Select Committee and was Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party. He was appointed Minister for Business and Enterprise in September 2012 and Minister of State for Energy in March 2013. In 2014 he also became Minister for Portsmouth.

The Secretary of State for Defence has overall responsibility for the business of the department providing strategic direction on policy, operations, acquisition and personnel matters, including:

• operational strategy, including as a member of the National Security Council 
• defence planning, programme and resource allocation
• international relations
• defence exports policy, including as chair of the cross-Government Exports Working Group
• nuclear programme
• communications