Former defence secretary Ben Wallace has been given the green light to take up a new role advising the Saudi Arabian government on security and defence reform.
Wallace, who stood down as an MP in the July election, has been appointed as senior adviser to the managing director at CTRD, a security company that provides advice to overseas governments on security matters and reform.
His role – which entails advising CTRD and/or its clients on aspects of reform of governance, security and defence – will focus on advising the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on reform.
Advice from the government’s appointments watchdog will prevent Wallace, who was defence secretary from 2019 until 2023, from advising either CTRD or the KSA on UK defence matters.
However, the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments said it did not see an issue with Wallace responding to UK ministers or officials should they seek his advice.
In a letter to Wallace about the appointment, Acoba said the Ministry of Defence had confirmed that while the UK has a defence agreement with the KSA, any information about defence sales “has significantly moved on” in the time since he left cabinet. Wallace resigned as defence secretary in August 2023, saying the role had come at a “personal toll to me and my family”.
“The MoD confirmed that you have no access to up-to-date commercial, operational or policy insight into such matters,” said Acoba, which provides independent advice on appointments for ex-ministers and senior officials after they leave office.
The committee said the risk posed by Wallace having had access to a “wide range of sensitive information” as defence secretary – giving CTRD or its clients an unfair advantage over rival companies – was mitigated by this fact.
It said the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, which it had consulted because Wallace will be working with another government, had raised no concerns about him taking up the appointment under the existing appointments rules.
But Acoba said there is still “a risk, real or perceived, that [Wallace] could offer unfair advantage to any company operating in defence and security – which needs to be mitigated”.
“Given there is a defence-related agreement between the KSA and the MoD, the committee has recommended you are prevented from advising either CTRD or the KSA on all UK defence matters,” Acoba said.
The UK and KSA have a longstanding defence partnership, and Wallace signed a Statement of Intent with his counterparts in the Saudi Arabian government in March 2023 to explore how the two countries could "explore how we can best position our decades-long combat air relationship for the future".
However, Acoba added said its advice does not prevent Wallace from advising CTRD and the KSA on matters of reform, governance, security and defence outside of its arrangements with the UK.
“Whilst it would therefore be inappropriate for you to contact the UK government, should UK ministers or officials actively seek your input, it would be consistent with this advice to respond,” it added.
Acoba said that until August 2025 – two years after his last day in ministerial office – Wallace’s job should be limited to working with CTRD Ltd and the government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
During that period, he must not lobby the UK government or contacts he gained during his time in office on behalf of CTRD – as is standard under the rules. He must also not do any work for CTRD related to the UK government, or advise the company on work related to any policies he worked on, or related to organisations or companies he had a relationship with, as defence secretary.
Second appointment at investment firm
Wallace has also taken up a second appointment as a partner at Boka Capital Ltd, an investment firm that focuses on military technology. He will control and manage his own investment fund, providing venture capital funding in defence and security related companies.
The former defence secretary said in a statement that he was joining the company “because I believe together we can lead in defence innovation and investment”.
“I will be using my experience to help Boka become experts in targeting needed solutions for defence and security requirements as well as dual use technology that has the ability to deliver growth across the board,” he said.
Speaking to the Financial Times, Wallace said the post is “not about lobbying the government for defence contracts” but “picking companies that will be in demand by somebody in the defence sector”.
“Sadly, I know what works. I know the trends that are coming out of Ukraine,” he added.
He told the FT he hoped to grow Boka’s funds under management to around $250m by next summer, with ambitions of “up to and beyond $500m”, although he added: “I don’t pretend to be a banker and I am not trying to be.”
In its letter about the role, Acoba said Wallace’s ministerial experience may have provided him with “access to information that could be seen to give unfair insight into investment opportunities around defence-related issues” – but that the risk would only arise “if the information is privileged, as opposed to where your investment decisions are based on general skills and experience gained in office”.
“The MoD confirmed that it is unaware of any specific sensitive information relating to unannounced policy or commercial opportunities that you had access to as secretary of state, that would offer Boka Capital/the Fund an unfair advantage,” the committee added.
“It is significant that you have been out of office for a year, which creates a gap between your access to information and the proposed role.”
Acoba said Wallace should not lobby the government on Boka’s behalf, or advise the company on matters related to the work of the UK government for two years after leaving his ministerial role – as is standard.
The committee added that Wallace must ensure that Boka Capital Ltd and the fund have protocols in place to avoid investing in countries that have a known UK security conflict