Dan Jarvis Appointed Defence Secretary After Healey Resignation

Dan Jarvis has been appointed Secretary of State for Defence after John Healey resigned earlier today. Downing Street said on X that “Dan Jarvis MBE MP has been appointed as Secretary of State for Defence.”

Healey resigned alongside armed forces minister Al Carns and PPS Pamela Nash. All three linked their departures to the defence spending plan, putting the ministry’s leadership change on the same day as the dispute over funding.

John Healey's resignation

Healey said the money in the defence investment plan would not be enough to defend the UK against threats. Carns also quit, saying the Prime Minister’s defence spending plan was “not enough,” while Nash criticised the “delays and difficulties” in securing the funding for the defence investment plan.

That left the defence brief without its previous top minister and removed two other figures tied to the same spending dispute. The resignations were part of a revolt inside the Ministry of Defence over defence spending.

Keir Starmer's response

Keir Starmer said the key defence funding plan “will provide the resources our military needs to keep us safe.” He also thanked Healey for his work as defence secretary and said he was “sorry that you will not be part of that work going forward.”

Jarvis now takes over the department at the centre of that funding argument. The next step is for him to take up the defence portfolio after the same-day resignations that opened the post.