MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Dan Jarvis appointed new UK Secretary of Defense; Healey resigns over military spending dispute

Secretary Jarvis graduated from Aberystwyth University in International Politics and Strategic Studies before attending the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.

Dan Jarvis MBE MP was appointed as UK Secretary of State for Defense on Thursday 11 June 2026, following the resignation of John Healey amid months-long dispute over military spending, and accusing Prime Minister of failing to commit the resources needed to keep the country safe from mounting threats, especially Russia.

 Jarvis was previously Minister of State at the Home Office from 6 July 2024 to 11 June 2026, and Minister of State at the Cabinet Office from 6 September 2025 to 11 June 2026.

Healey, a previously loyal minister, had been locked in talks with Starmer and finance minister Rachel Reeves over how to meet the additional military spending needed, delaying Britain’s Defense Investment Plan, which was due last year.

“You have been unable, and the Treasury has been unwilling, to commit the resources that the nation needs to defend the country,” Healey wrote in his letter to PM Starmer.

Starmer responded with a letter expressing regret at Healey's resignation and by appointing Dan Jarvis, as defense secretary. But around the same time as that appointment, a junior defense minister, Al Carns, also quit, saying the spending plans were “not built for the threat we face.”

The unexpected resignations are another blow to Starmer, who is likely to face a challenge to his leadership in the coming months.

Britain, historically a great military power with the Royal Navy, was left exposed in March when it was unable to immediately deploy an advanced warship to Cyprus after its air base there was hit by an Iranian-made drone. Likewise when it had to borrow a frigate from Germany, from where to lead a regular rotating NATO naval exercise

Starmer has pledged the largest sustained increase in defense spending since the Cold War, aiming to lift it to 3% of national output in the next parliament, meaning tens of billions of pounds of additional money for defense. But Healey said the plan he had seen would increase defense spending to only 2.68% in 2030, when it will already reach 2.6% next year.

That compares to Germany's plans to spend 3.7% of its GDP on defense by 2030. France is set to be lower than Britain at 2.5%.

Healey said Starmer's proposed increase in funding for defense fell “well short” of what was needed to help the military meet increased threats from Russia as well as demands to increase its presence in the Arctic and the Middle East.

The government has struggled to find the extra cash at a time when the economy is stagnating and both debt and the overall tax burden are at or close to their highest level in decades.

Healey, who had previously served in the governments of former Prime Ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, was widely liked by colleagues and the defense sector.

New minister Jarvis first entered Parliament as the Member for Barnsley Central in 2011 and was elected as the Member for Barnsley North in July 2024. In 2011 Dan became the first person since the Second World War to resign his commission in order to contest a parliamentary by-election.

Dan served in various shadow front bench roles between 2011 and 2015 before serving on the Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy between 2017 and 2019.

In 2018, he was elected as the first Mayor of South Yorkshire. During his four-year term, he unlocked a devolution deal and led the region through Covid-19 and severe flooding.

After leaving the mayoralty, he was appointed Shadow Security Minister in September 2023.

Dan graduated from Aberystwyth University with a degree in International Politics and Strategic Studies before attending the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.

From Sandhurst, he was commissioned into the Parachute Regiment and subsequently deployed to Kosovo, Northern Ireland, Iraq and Afghanistan.

His service included: Platoon Commander with 1 Para, Aide-de-Camp to General Sir Mike Jackson, and Adjutant 3 Para.

On promotion to major, he worked as a staff planner in the Permanent Joint Headquarters and then at the Army’s Headquarters. He also served as a company commander in the Special Forces Support Group.