The armed forces' new senior commander has been named as General Sir Mike Walker.

He takes over as Chief of the Defence Staff from Admiral Sir Michael Boyce.

There had been suggestions that Sir Michael did not get on with the government.

The chief of the defence staff is head of all three armed services and a senior military adviser to the prime minister.

The change in personnel opens the way for a soldier who distinguished himself in the Balkans to take charge of the Army - General Sir Mike Jackson.

The head of the armed forces role has become an increasingly political and high profile job.

Under Admiral Boyce, the forces won their first serious funding rise for many years, but there were also reports that relations with Downing Street were not quite as close as they had been under Admiral Boyce's predecessor, Charles Guthrie.

During the war in Afghanistan, the admiral stressed the difficulties of defeating terrorism by military means.

The new chief, General Sir Mike Walker, was born in Rhodesia.

He is perhaps best known as the successful first commander of the multi-national component at the peace implementation force, IFOR, which helped make the peace in Bosnia.