AN independent audit revealed that British Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab was bullying officials, prompting his resignation from the cabinet on Friday (21).
To replace the departed Dominic Raab, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak promoted two close allies, including Oliver Dowden, to the position of deputy PM.
Alex Chalk, a former junior minister for the Ministry of Defence, took over as justice secretary.
The swift appointment of Chalk makes the Cheltenham MP the 11th person appointed Justice Secretary since the Conservatives took power in 2010.
Raab resigned from the cabinet this morning (21) after an independent investigator Adam Tolley KC said two complaints against him had been upheld, concluding the deputy prime minister and justice secretary had “acted in a way which was intimidating”, and had been “unreasonably and persistently aggressive” in meetings.
Lawyer Adam Tolley’s 48-page report outlines the conclusions about more than a dozen complaints against Raab’s attitude.
Over the course of the five months, 66 interviews were conducted, including four with the minister, and 44 written responses were provided to the investigator.
In his conclusions, Tolley focuses on three different sets of accusations made against Raab and concludes that in two of them, Raab did behave in a threatening manner towards his co-workers, which the ministerial code refers to as bullying.
The findings also said his conduct “involved an abuse or misuse of power in a way that undermines or humiliates”.
Raab sent an aggrieved resignation letter in which he claimed the report’s conclusions were flawed.
But he followed through on his earlier promise to resign if any bullying claims were confirmed.
“I called for the inquiry and undertook to resign if it made any finding of bullying whatsoever,” Raab said. “I believe it is important to keep my word.”
He added: “I am genuinely sorry for any unintended stress or offence that any officials felt, as a result of the pace, standards and challenge that I brought to the Ministry of Justice.
“That is, however, what the public expect of ministers working on their behalf.”
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said the situation showed “the continual weakness of the prime minister”, adding: “He should never have appointed [Raab] in the first place… and then he didn’t sack him.
Cabinet secretary Simon Case – the most senior civil servant in Whitehall – has written to civil servants, saying the report “makes difficult reading”.
He added: “The prime minister is clear that there have been shortcomings in the historic process, which have negatively affected everyone involved. We will learn from this how to better handle such matters in future.”
Another of Sunak’s senior ministers, Gavin Williamson, quit in November after bullying allegations and the prime minister sacked Conservative Party chair Nadhim Zahawi in January after he was found to have broken the ministerial code over his openness about his tax affairs.
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