Britain’s deputy prime minister, Dominic Raab, resigned from office Friday amid allegations that he was bullying subordinates.
Raab was one of conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s closest allies. He was also an adamant proponent of Brexit — Britain leaving the European Union. This marks “the third cabinet minister in six months to leave over ethics issues,” wreaking havoc on Sunak’s cabinet, The New York Times reported.
As far as the bullying allegations go, an independent barrister had “examined eight cases in which civil servants accused Mr. Raab, who also served as justice secretary, of mistreating them,” per the Times.
What does Dominic Raab say about the bullying allegations?
Raab has denied the allegations of abusive behavior. He shared a resignation letter on Twitter accepting the allegations and keeping his promise that he would resign if the investigation discovered anything that substantiated the claims, but also criticized the findings.
“Whilst I feel duty bound to accept the outcome of the inquiry, it dismissed all but two of the claims leveled against me,” Raab said in his resignation statement. “... In setting the threshold for bullying so low, this inquiry has set a dangerous precedent. It will encourage spurious complaints against ministers, and have a chilling effect on those driving change on behalf of your government — and ultimately the British people.”
According to The Washington Post, the report “found that his behavior was ‘intimidating’ on some occasions and at times ‘involved an abuse or misuse of power in a way that undermines or humiliates.’”
In 2010, Raab was elected to the Parliament and attempted to be Conservative Party leader in 2019, but ultimately ended up supporting former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, ABC News reported.
Opposition party leaders criticized Sunak for appointing Raab in the first place.
“There’s a double weakness here,” Keir Starmer, leader of the opposition Labour Party, said, per CNN. “He should never have appointed him and then he didn’t sack him.”