Draft:Dominic Raab’s tenure as Deputy Prime Minister

Dominic Raab served as Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2021 to 2022 under the Johnson administration with Boris Johnson and from 2022 to 2023 under the Sunak administration with Rishi Sunak. He has been associated with both socially liberal and economically liberal policies, and supported reduced taxes, electoral reform, cuts on defence spending and an increased focus on environmental issues.

Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Monarchs	Elizabeth II Charles III
Party	Conservatives Party
First term 15 September 2021 – 6 September 2022
Party	Conservative Party
Nominated by	Boris Johnson
Appointed by	Elizabeth II
Second term 25 October 2022 – 21 April 2023
Party	Conservative Party
Nominated by	Rishi Sunak
Appointed by	Charles III

First term (2021–2022)

In a cabinet reshuffle on 15 September 2021, Raab was appointed Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor. He was also given the title of Deputy Prime Minister, a post unused since the Cameron–Clegg coalition.

Raab declined to run in the July–September 2022 Conservative Party leadership election. He endorsed Sunak's leadership bid.

In August 2022, Raab moved to block the release of the parents of now seven-year-old Tony Hudgell, who had been abused by them and had to have his legs amputated.

The Guardian reported in December 2022 that Raab prevented the victims' commissioner for England and Wales being reappointed and is not expected to replace her for months. According to victims' groups, critical legislation was going through parliament without an independent reviewer. Unnamed sources stated Raab intervened to stop Vera Baird staying as victims' commissioner.

Second term (2022–2023)

Raab was reappointed by Sunak as Deputy Prime Minister, Justice Secretary and Lord Chancellor on 25 October 2022. In November 2022, Raab said that terrorist offenders would face longer sentences if they committed crime, such as vandalising cells, while in prison.

Raab resigned as both Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Secretary on 21 April 2023, after an independent investigation found that his behaviour towards civil servants at the Ministry of Justice and at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office had amounted to bullying in two cases.The report of the investigation was published on the same day

Bullying investigation and resignation

On 15 November 2022, two formal bullying complaints were made by civil servants about Raab's behaviour when Justice Secretary and Foreign Secretary in Boris Johnson's government. Allegations against Raab included claims that he lost his temper at work and left staff scared to enter his office and that his behaviour was "abrasive and controlling". After Raab had been notified about the two formal complaints, he asked Sunak to commission an independent investigation, saying that he would "thoroughly rebut and refute" the claims against him, that he had "never tolerated bullying" and was confident that he had "behaved professionally throughout". Adam Tolley KC was appointed to undertake the investigation, while the responsibility to decide whether Raab had breached the ministerial code of conduct would remain with Sunak. During an interview on Sky News in February 2023, Raab said he would resign if the investigation found that he had bullied civil servants.

The story of bullying allegations against Raab, which eventually led to the investigation and his resignation, had broken on 11 November 2022 when The Guardian newspaper reported that that senior civil servants in the Ministry of Justice were offered "respite or a route out" of the department after Raab was reappointed, as they had been affected by his behaviour, described as "bullying and unprofessional", during his previous tenure. The Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Justice, Antonia Romeo, had had to ask Raab to treat staff professionally and with respect on his return.The following days brought further media coverage of allegations of bullying: The Sun suggested that Raab had once thrown tomatoes from a salad across a room in a fit of anger, a claim Raab's spokesman dismissed as nonsense, while The Mirror reported that he "burns through" staff.

The former Permanent Secretary at the Foreign Office, Lord McDonald was interviewed on LBCRadio and said that he had spoken to Raab on several occasions about the way he treated staff. A report in The Times said that civil servants at the Ministry of Justice had been "signed off work for extended periods of time" when Raab was Justice Secretary and that a complaint had been made about him in March 2022, with reference to a "dysfunctional working culture" that had begun to hinder effective work in the department. Raab denied the allegations with a spokesman saying "He consistently holds himself to the highest standards of professionalism and has never received nor been made aware of any formal complaint against him".

Initially the terms of reference of the bullying investigation included just the two formal complaints made on 15 November but they were expanded as more complaints were made between 23 November and 13 December and eventually included eight formal complaints, six dating from Raab's time at the Ministry of Justice, one from his time as Foreign Secretary and one from his time as Brexit Secretary. The eight complaints involved 24 civil servants. Tolly conducted 66 interviews including four with Raab, who also made written representations to the investigation.

The report, which was handed to Sunak on 20 April 2023, found that on occasion, both at the Ministry of Justice and at the Foreign Office, Raab's conduct towards civil servants had crossed the threshold between abrasive and bullying. Raab's style was, in his own words, "inquisitorial, direct, impatient and fastidious", but the report found that he did not shout or swear at people, and did not refer to them as "snowflakes". Both the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Justice, Antonia Romero, and the Permanent Under Secretary at the Foreign Office, Sir Philip Barton, had previously spoken to him about his behaviour, although not using the term "bullying", but their advice had not had any impact. It was only after the investigation was announced, that Raab modified his abrasive style.

The report found that Raab had been aggressive at a meeting at the Foreign Office and his conduct had involved misuse of power to undermine and humiliate. No finding on the original Ministry of Justice group complaint was made, as it had been signed by a number of people, not all of whom had had direct contact with Raab. Regarding the additional Ministry of Justice complaints, the report found that on occasion during meetings with policy officials, Raab's behaviour had been intimidating and insulting. As far as the Brexit Office complaint was concerned, the report found that Raab's behaviour was intimidating but not offensive, malicious or insulting and so did not meet the threshold for bullying. Tolley found that all complainants acted in good faith and had no ulterior agenda.

It was up to the Prime Minister to decide whether or not Raab's conduct breached the ministerial code, which states that: "Harassing, bullying or other inappropriate or discriminating behaviour wherever it takes place is not consistent with the Ministerial Code and will not be tolerated" Raab however had previously said he would resign if the investigation found that he had bullied civil servants and so he did not wait for Sunak's decision but submitted his resignation as Minister of Justice and Deputy Prime Minister on 21 April 2023, the day after the report was handed to Sunak. In his resignation letter Raab was critical of the investigation, saying that the adverse findings were flawed and that the threshold for bullying had been set too low. He also complained that there had been "skewed and fabricated claims" leaked to the media during the investigation. One leak was reported by The Telegraph in March 2023, which said that former Prime Minister Johnson had privately warned Raab about his conduct and given evidence to the investigation. Johnson's warning was not mentioned in the report, which said that there had been "a series of inaccurate and misleading media reports about the investigation".

A month after resigning as a minister, Raab announced that he would stand down as an MP at the next general election.