Defence Secretary Ben Wallace is being tipped to become NATO's next chief after current Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg confirmed he will stand down in October.

Officials at the military alliance this weekend dismissed claims Mr Stoltenberg could extend his term again amid the Ukraine war.

It means the secretary-general post will become vacant in just under eight months' time, with the race now on to become his successor.

Mr Wallace, who has been widely praised for leading Britain's response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, has been heavily linked to the role.

Asked last year if he would be interested in succeeding Mr Stoltenberg, Mr Wallace admitted it would be 'a nice job' but added that he 'loved' his role as Defence Secretary.

Mr Wallace is hugely popular among Tory members and has not ruled out a future bid to become the party's leader - although he twice declined to stand for the leadership last year in the contests to replace Boris Johnson and then Liz Truss.

He has previously spoken of having to 'sacrifice absolutely everything' in your 'private and your personal life' when being a prime minister.

Mr Johnson, as well as his predecessors Theresa May and David Cameron, have all also been touted as possible successors to Mr Stoltenberg as the next NATO chief.

But it has been claimed that French President Emmanuel Macron could veto any British candidate for the position.

One of the most-talked-about names as Mr Stoltenberg's replacement is Mark Rutte, the current Dutch PM.

Last summer he became his country's longest-serving premier in history and recently talked about leaving politics altogether to 'do something completely different' when asked about the NATO job.

All 13 of NATO's previous permanent secretary-generals have been male, which has put pressure on the alliance to appoint a female chief when Mr Stoltenberg leaves after his nine years in charge.

Estonian PM Kaja Kallas, Lithuanian PM Ingrida Simonyte and former Croatian president Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic have all be linked to the role. 

Other female contenders might also include European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, a former German defence minister, or Chrystia Freeland, Canada's deputy PM.

Ms Freeland is reportedly being backed by the US to take over as NATO chief.

The US, Germany, France and Britain are traditionally viewed as being the most influential NATO members in the secretive process of selecting a new secretary-general.

Mr Stoltenberg was the choice of former German chancellor Angela Merkel to lead NATO prior to his appointment in 2014, with the former Norweigan PM then winning the support of other allies.

The 63-year-old had been due to stand down in October last year but had his term extended by one year following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

German newspaper Welt am Sonntag reported yesterday that Mr Stoltenberg's term was to be extended again as NATO looked for stability as the conflict in Ukraine continued.

But NATO spokesperson Oana Lungescu dismissed the claim, saying: 'The mandate of Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has been extended three times, and he has served for a total of almost nine years.

'The Secretary-General's term comes to an end in October of this year and he has no intention to seek another extension of his mandate.'