Leo Docherty becomes minister for armed forces

Following the departure from Government of the Rt Hon James Heappey MP  the king has approved a new appointment.

Heappey has stepped down as armed forces minister. He continues to be an MP, but will not stand at the next election.

Leo Docherty MP will now take on the role of Minister of State (Minister for the Armed Forces) in the Ministry of Defence.

Docherty previously served as a Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) from 27 October 2022 to 26 March 2024 and Minister of State for Europe at the FCDO from 7 September 2022 to 27 October 2022.

His other roles include Minister for Defence People from July to September 2022 and Parliamentary Secretary (Minister for Defence People and Veterans) for the Cabinet Office and the Ministry of Defence from April 2021 to July 2022.

He has been the MP for Aldershot since 2017.

Docherty trained at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and was commissioned into the Scots Guards in 2001. He served in Iraq and Afghanistan with the 1st Battalion Scots Guards and 16 Air Assault Brigade.

Image: Chris McAndrew, CC BY 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons