Dominic Raab on Friday resigned as the UK’s deputy prime minister after an independent report into bullying claims against him upheld two of the allegations.
Raab said he wanted to “keep his word” having promised to step down if the report by employment lawyer Adam Tolley that was commissioned by Rishi Sunak found evidence of any bullying of civil servants.
The prime minister, who received the Tolley report on Thursday, agonised over whether Raab could survive.
On Friday morning the deputy prime minister, who was also justice secretary, quit. Sunak’s allies insisted he was not forced out by Number 10.
The prime minister will now be forced into a cabinet reshuffle, bringing forward a ministerial shake-up many had expected to take place after May’s local elections.
Raab’s resignation is a serious blow to Sunak, calling into question his judgment of character. Nadhim Zahawi and Sir Gavin Williamson had previously been forced out of his top team over their conduct.
Although he apologised for any distress he had caused, Raab struck a defiant note in his resignation letter, saying the Tolley inquiry would undermine the ability of ministers to “exercise direct oversight” over civil servants.
“In setting the threshold for bullying so low, this inquiry has set a dangerous precedent,” he wrote. “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.”
Sunak asked Tolley last November to carry out the inquiry into complaints of bullying behaviour during Raab’s time as justice secretary and previously foreign secretary.
Tolley is understood to have examined eight formal complaints involving allegations by more than 20 officials.
Raab was one of Sunak’s closest allies in politics. He supported Sunak during his first leadership bid in the summer, when he lost to Liz Truss.
Raab said he remained supportive of Sunak and his government, describing him as a “great prime minister in very challenging times”.
But he complained about “a number of improprieties” during the course of the Tolley inquiry. “They include the systematic leaking of skewed and fabricated claims to the media in breach of the rules of the inquiry and the civil service code of conduct,” he said.
Raab apologised for any unintended stress or offence caused by what he described as the “pace, standards and challenge” he brought as a minister.
“Mr 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 wrote.
