Being Gavin Williamson can’t have been easy over the past 12 months. into one of the biggest jobs in politics, the secretary of state for defence has lurched from crisis to gaffe without drawing breath. In March, he notoriously told the Russians to “shut up and go away” in a Q&A session following his first big speech on defence issues, garnering complaints that he was too childish for the job. Yet, at 42, he has ended his first year in the role having achieved the impossible — he secured a £1.8bn windfall from the chancellor for the defence budget, making him an instant hero at his notoriously difficult-to-manage Ministry of Defence. So, who is the man who rose from backbench…

Source: The Times December 16, 2018 00:09 UTC