Wallace told the newspaper that he had informed Prime Minister Rishi Sunak about his decision as early as June 16 and planned to make an announcement later in summer. However, the secretary had do it earlier due to a media leak about his intentions, according to The Times.
"I'm not standing next time," Wallace told the newspaper regarding the next general election in the UK, while also ruling out deliberately resigning "prematurely" to force a by-election.
The defense secretary added that his next job could be a total break from both politics and defense.
Earlier in the week, The Times reported that Wallace was considering whether to stand down from government after four years as defense secretary during the cabinet reshuffle Sunak is planning to carry out this fall.
Wallace said he wanted to return to normal life and would be happy "to go and work at a bar" or pursue his interests, including Formula One and horse racing, or "just do something completely different."
Possible candidates for the post of UK defense secretary include Chief Secretary to the Treasury John Glen, Minister of State for Security Tom Tugendhat and Minister of State for the Indo-Pacific Anne-Marie Trevelyan, the newspaper said.