UK Deputy PM Steps Down Over Bullying Claims

On Friday, UK Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab announced his resignation following an

upheld report of bullying claims against him, creating another political shock for the country's Conservative party. This resignation comes just two weeks before the upcoming local elections in which the party is expected to lose seats, adding to the headache of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

 

Raab had promised to resign if any claims against him were upheld, and even though he was cleared of most of the allegations, he criticized the conclusions of the lawyer-led inquiry. In his resignation letter, Raab stated that he felt duty-bound to accept the outcome of the inquiry but that its two adverse findings were flawed and set a dangerous precedent for the conduct of good government. He argued that the bar for bullying was set so low that it would encourage spurious complaints against ministers and have a chilling effect on those driving change.

 

Raab also resigned from his post as justice secretary, where he had to battle a backlog in criminal cases caused by years of under-funding and disruptions caused by the pandemic. He previously served as Brexit minister and foreign secretary but was moved from that post after being criticized for failing to return from holiday as Afghanistan fell to the Taliban.

 

Sunak, who succeeded Liz Truss in October last year, has vowed to restore "integrity, professionalism, and accountability" in government after Johnson's rollercoaster tenure. He previously sacked Nadhim Zahawi as Conservative party chairman over his tax affairs, and Gavin Williamson, a former defense secretary who kept a tarantula on his desk while in charge of party discipline in parliament, quit over expletive-laden messages.

 

Raab, a former lawyer and karate black belt, has denied bullying civil servants working for him, and in his letter, he rejected allegations of an overbearing manner with colleagues. He insisted that ministers "must be able to exercise direct oversight with respect to senior officials over critical negotiations conducted on behalf of the British people" and that not doing so would mean the loss of "the democratic and constitutional principle of ministerial responsibility."

 

Sunak appointed senior employment lawyer Adam Tolley to look into the claims in November, and he submitted his report to Sunak on eight allegations on Thursday. The report has yet to be published, but Raab said Tolley "concluded that I had not once, in four and a half years, sworn or shouted at anyone, let alone thrown anything or otherwise physically intimidated anyone, nor intentionally sought to belittle anyone." He added that he was genuinely sorry for any unintended stress or offense that any officials felt as a result of the pace, standards, and challenge that he brought to the Ministry of Justice but that this was what the public expects of ministers working on their behalf.