British Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab has resigned from the government on Friday following an independent investigation into complaints that he bullied colleagues, becoming the third senior minister to step down over personal conduct issues in the last six months. This is a major blow to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s efforts to revive the governing Conservative Party’s reputation, as he had promised a government of integrity when he took office in October.
Raab submitted his resignation letter to the prime minister before the report was made public, stating, “I called for the inquiry and undertook to resign if it made any finding of bullying whatsoever. I believe it is important to keep my word.” In response, Sunak expressed deep sadness but acknowledged the importance of upholding high standards in government.
As deputy prime minister, Raab held no formal powers, but he was a close political ally of Sunak and had supported his campaign to become prime minister last summer. His resignation comes just two weeks ahead of English local council elections, where the Conservatives are predicted to fare poorly.
The five-month investigation into Raab’s behavior was conducted by lawyer Adam Tolley and heard evidence from multiple government officials regarding complaints of bullying at three different departments. The independent report concluded that Raab had acted in an “intimidating” and “persistently aggressive” manner while at the Foreign Office. It also found that he had gone “further than was necessary or appropriate in delivering critical feedback and also insulting” while at the Ministry of Justice.
Tolley noted in his report that Raab had been able to regulate his behavior since the announcement of the investigation and should have altered his approach earlier. Raab apologized for any unintended stress or offense caused but criticized the low threshold for defining bullying, stating that it set a “dangerous precedent” for the conduct of good government.
Raab referred to two incidents where findings of bullying were made against him, one involving a senior diplomat’s handling of Brexit negotiations over Gibraltar at the Foreign Office, and another involving critical feedback during his earlier stint at the Ministry of Justice from 2021 to 2022.
The resignation of Raab, along with the previous scandals involving Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Liz Truss, is expected to further damage the public perception of the Conservative government. Keir Starmer, the leader of the main opposition Labour Party, accused Sunak of “weakness” for not sacking Raab and allowing him to resign.
This is not the first resignation of a senior minister in recent months over personal conduct issues. In November, Gavin Williamson, another of Sunak’s senior ministers, resigned amid allegations of bullying, and Conservative Party chair Nadhim Zahawi was sacked in January after breaking the ministerial code over his tax affairs.
Sunak himself is currently facing an investigation by parliament’s standards watchdog into whether he properly declared his wife’s shareholding in a childcare company that could benefit from new government policies. The accumulation of such scandals is expected to impact the Conservative Party’s fortunes and pose challenges for Sunak’s leadership moving forward.
