Gen Richards to head the British Army

The British Army is to have a new boss as of next summer - General Sir David Richards (pictured), who will replace General Sir Richard Dannatt, who has held the top job since 2006. Richards was the first non-American to take charge of US troops since World War Two when he commanded Nato forces in Afghanistan in 2006/07. He recently suggested - in opposition to current government thinking - that a troop surge in Afghanistan would help defeat the Taliban.

Richards, 56, is a family man with a wife and two daughters and is popular with the troops. A British Army insider told The First Post that his appointment was seen as good news: "He is far more charismatic than Dannatt, with more experience as an active soldier."

The outgoing Dannatt has had an awkward relationship with the Labour government ever since he gave an outspoken interview to the Daily Mail in October 2006, within weeks of taking over, in which he suggested that it was "naive" to hope to install a liberal democracy in Iraq and that the entire Iraq operation "exacerbated" Britain's security difficulties.

As a result, Dannatt lost the chance to be appointed Chief of Defence staff, in overall command of British forces. That job remains with Air Chief Marshall Sir Jock Stirrup, whose post was - unusually - extended earlier this year until 2011.