Dominic Raab resigns: The karate black belt MP who briefly ran the country but was brought down by bullying claims
For almost three weeks, at the height of a once-in-a-generation crisis, Dominic Raab was in charge of the UK government.
When Boris Johnson was admitted to intensive care with COVID in April 2020, it was Mr Raab who took over at the top.
Addressing the public during a Downing Street news conference shortly after taking over the prime minister’s responsibilities, Mr Raab vowed that he and the rest of the cabinet would “not blink or flinch in the task ahead at this crucial moment”.
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Dominic Raab resigns
Deputy PM ‘keeps word’ and quits – follow live
“He’s not just the PM – our boss – for all of us in cabinet he is also our colleague, our friend,” Mr Raab said. “If there is one thing I know about this prime minister; he’s a fighter.”
Later that year, he revealed just how serious that moment had been, saying: “I really worried we might lose him.”
It may have marked the most dramatic moment in his time at the top of government, but even without it, the period since he first joined the cabinet in 2018 has not been short of political tumult.
Before politics
An Oxbridge-educated lawyer, Mr Raab also had a career in the legal sector and then as a Foreign Office lawyer during the New Labour years.
This included defending then prime minister Tony Blair in a lawsuit lodged by Slobodan Milosevic, the ex-leader of Yugoslavia.
In 2006, Mr Raab, a karate black belt, moved into politics, working as an aide to then shadow home secretary David Davis.
He also had a spell working for Dominic Grieve, who went on to serve as attorney general during Theresa May’s premiership.
Entrance into parliament
In 2010, Mr Raab stood to be the MP for Esher and Walton after fellow Conservative Ian Taylor stood down.
The seat’s majority surged from just over 7,000 to close to 20,000 as David Cameron came to power in coalition with the Liberal Democrats.
Mr Raab spent his early years in parliament as a backbencher, at one point co-authoring a book on economics called Britannia Unchained: Global Lessons for Growth and Prosperity.
His co-authors on the treatise were Liz Truss, Kwasi Kwarteng, Chris Skidmore and Priti Patel.
In the 2015 election, Mr Raab’s majority in Esher and Walton swelled to close to 30,000.
He was subsequently appointed as a junior minister under Michael Gove, who was then the justice secretary.
Mr Raab’s role included being the minister for human rights.
Mr Raab gives a speech at the Vote Leave campaign headquarters in June 2016
Support of Brexit and entrance to the cabinet
In 2016, Mr Raab announced he would be supporting the departure of the UK from the European Union.
He was a prominent campaigner working with the Vote Leave organisation.
Mr Raab spoke of his confidence that the UK would strike a trade deal with the EU in the wake of Brexit.
Following the result of the referendum and the resignation of Mr Cameron, Mr Raab stayed on as a government minister in the justice department under Theresa May.
His majority then slipped from close to 30,000 to around 23,000 in the 2017 general election.
In January 2018, Mrs May reshuffled her government and he became a housing minister under Sajid Javid.
It was only a few months later, in July 2018, that Mr Raab joined the top table of government.
When his former boss, David Davis, resigned as Brexit secretary over Mrs May’s Chequers proposal, Mr Raab was tapped as his replacement.
Shortly after taking up the position, Mr Raab was criticised for his comments when he said he “hadn’t quite understood” how reliant UK-EU trade was on the crossing between Dover and Calais.
In November 2018, Mr Raab resigned from the government over his opposition to the Brexit deal which had been agreed with the EU.
But by the following March, amid the nights of endless votes on Brexit, Mr Raab changed tack and voted to support Mrs May’s deal, as he said otherwise there was a “significant risk of losing Brexit altogether”.
Mr Raab launched his Tory leadership campaign in 2019
Failed leadership run – and actually running the country
After Mrs May stood down as prime minister in 2019, Mr Raab ran to replace her.
While he was never expected to win, his 30 or so supporters gave him negotiating power for a plum job with eventual winner Boris Johnson.
Coming out of the race, he was appointed foreign secretary – one of the great offices of state.
Mr Raab was also given the title of first secretary of state – becoming de facto deputy prime minister.
In the December 2019 election, Mr Raab’s majority collapsed from around 23,000 to under 3,000.
But he kept his position in the cabinet of Mr Johnson’s new majority government.
Mr Raab gives the government’s daily coronavirus update in 2020
The first secretary of state role is one that puts a minister above all other secretaries of state, which is the rank of most cabinet ministers.
Held by George Osborne under David Cameron, John Prescott under Tony Blair and Michael Heseltine under John Major, it is a role not always filled and not one often called upon.
But during the COVID pandemic, Mr Raab had to step up to the plate and lead the government when Mr Johnson was admitted to hospital with coronavirus.
After Mr Johnson was diagnosed with the virus at the end of March 2020, it was confirmed Mr Raab would be in charge of the country should the prime minister be unable to discharge his duties.
On 5 April that year, Mr Johnson was admitted to hospital and Mr Raab stood in, chairing meetings, delivering news conferences and responding at Prime Minister’s Questions.
It was only on 27 April 2020 that Mr Johnson once more took over again as prime minister.
Mr Raab visits the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan as foreign secretary. Pic: Simon Dawson / No 10 Downing Street
Hong Kong, Afghanistan and exiting the Foreign Office
After stepping back from running the country, Mr Raab returned to running the Foreign Office.
He was still dealing with the impacts of the pandemic, and it was soon announced that the international development brief would be added to his portfolio.
In the summer of 2020, Mr Raab announced the UK would offer a route for people from Hong Kong who held British National (Overseas) status to Britain after China effectively took over the region.
He announced in the Commons that China’s actions constituted a “clear and serious breach” of the treaty agreed between China and the UK in 1984 regarding the semi-autonomous city.
More than 144,000 people have since applied for the visa scheme.
The final act of Mr Raab’s tenure as foreign secretary arrived with the withdrawal of Western forces from Afghanistan in August 2021.
The country was plunged into chaos, with a resurgent Taliban capturing swathes of the nation as Joe Biden and US allies pulled out their troops.
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What’s life like under the Taliban?
Evacuation efforts – known as Operation Pitting – were beset by issues, including people waiting in sewers to get into Kabul airport, and hanging from the side of aeroplanes as they took off in an attempt to flee the Taliban.
It soon emerged that Mr Raab was on holiday in Crete, and he fought off calls to resign following reports he was rejecting phone calls while away.
He later said that with the “benefit of hindsight” he would have returned earlier.
Mr Raab was mocked for telling Sky News that he was not paddleboarding as “the sea was closed”.
By mid-September, Mr Johnson had reshuffled his government and Mr Raab was removed from the Foreign Office. He was made justice secretary and deputy prime minister.
Replacement of Boris Johnson
Amid swathes of Conservative government resignations and calls for Mr Johnson to step down as prime minister in mid-2022, Mr Raab remained in post as justice secretary.
After Mr Johnson announced his resignation, Mr Raab announced his support for Rishi Sunak and was one of his most vocal supporters.
When Liz Truss won the race to be prime minister, Mr Raab left the cabinet and spent the following weeks engaging on social media with constituency issues.
Once the Truss premiership collapsed, Mr Raab returned to government once again as justice secretary and deputy prime minister.
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Raab ‘ruined lives’ with behaviour
Bullying allegations and downfall
Soon after Mr Sunak entered Downing Street, allegations began to swirl about another one of his allies – Gavin Williamson.
Eventually, Mr Williamson offered his resignation, but the spotlight soon turned to Mr Raab.
In November 2022, Mr Raab requested an investigation into the bullying claims made against him – although he insisted at the time that he was “confident that I have behaved professionally throughout”.
Adam Tolley KC was charged with leading the investigation.
Now Mr Raab has left the government, he is facing the likelihood of losing his seat as an MP at the next general election.
It is a top Liberal Democrat target, and his majority of less than 2,000 is looking precarious with the current unpopularity of the Conservatives.
World
25% of young children and pregnant women malnourished in Gaza, charity says, as PM vows to fly critical medical cases to UK
A charity has warned 25% of young children and pregnant women in Gaza are now malnourished, with Sir Keir Starmer vowing to evacuate children who need “critical medical assistance” to the UK.
MSF, also known as Doctors Without Borders, said Israel’s “deliberate use of starvation as a weapon” has reached unprecedented levels – with patients and healthcare workers both fighting to survive.
It claimed that, at one of its clinics in Gaza City, rates of severe malnutrition in children under five have trebled over the past two weeks – and described the lack of food and water on the ground as “unconscionable”.
Pic: Reuters
The charity also criticised the high number of fatalities seen at aid distribution sites, with one British surgeon accusing IDF soldiers of shooting civilians “almost like a game of target practice”.
MSF’s deputy medical coordinator in Gaza, Dr Mohammed Abu Mughaisib, said: “Those who go to the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’s food distributions know that they have the same chance of receiving a sack of flour as they do of leaving with a bullet in their head.”
The UN also estimates that Israeli forces have killed more than 1,000 people seeking food – the majority near the militarised distribution sites of the US-backed aid distribution scheme run by the GHF.
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‘Many more deaths unless Israelis allow food in’
In a statement on Friday, the IDF had said it “categorically rejects the claims of intentional harm to civilians”, and reports of incidents at aid distribution sites were “under examination”.
The GHF has also previously disputed that these deaths were connected with its organisation’s operations, with director Johnnie Moore telling Sky News: “We just want to feed Gazans. That’s the only thing that we want to do.”
Israel says it has let enough food into Gaza and has accused the UN of failing to distribute it, in what the foreign ministry has labelled as “a deliberate ploy” to defame the country.
‘Humanitarian catastrophe must end’
In a video message posted on X late last night, Sir Keir Starmer condemned the scenes in Gaza as “appalling” and “unrelenting” – and said “the images of starvation and desperation are utterly horrifying”.
The prime minister added: “The denial of aid to children and babies is completely unjustifiable, just as the continued captivity of hostages is completely unjustifiable.
“Hundreds of civilians have been killed while seeking aid – children, killed, whilst collecting water. It is a humanitarian catastrophe, and it must end.”
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Israeli military show aid waiting inside Gaza
Sir Keir confirmed that the British government is now “accelerating efforts” to evacuate children from Gaza who need critical medical assistance, so they can be brought to the UK for specialist treatment.
Israel has now said that foreign countries will be able to airdrop aid into Gaza. While the PM says the UK will now “do everything we can” to get supplies in via this route, he said this decision has come “far too late”.
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WHO: Gaza faces ‘manmade’ starvation
UN: People in Gaza ‘walking corpses’
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Last year, the RAF dropped aid into Gaza, but humanitarian organisations warned it wasn’t enough and was potentially dangerous. In March 2024, five people were killed when an aid parachute failed and supplies fell on them.
For now, Sir Keir has rejected calls to follow French President Emmanuel Macron and recognise a Palestinian state – despite more than 220 MPs signing a cross-party letter to demand he takes this step.
The prime minister is instead demanding a ceasefire and “lasting peace” – and says he will only consider an independent state as part of a negotiated peace deal.
World
‘Almost like a game of target practice’: British surgeon says IDF shooting Gazans at aid points
A British surgeon who recently returned from Gaza has told Sky News that there is “profound malnutrition” among the population – and claims IDF soldiers are shooting civilians at aid points “like a game of target practice”.
Dr Nick Maynard spent four weeks working inside Nasser Hospital, where a lack of food has left medics struggling to treat children and toddlers.
The conditions inside the hospital, in the south of the Strip, have been documented in a Sky News report.
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Malnourished girl: ‘The war changed me’
Dr Maynard told The World with Yalda Hakim: “I met several doctors who had cartons of formula feed in their luggage – and they were all confiscated by the Israeli border guards. Nothing else got confiscated, just the formula feed.
“There were four premature babies who died during the first two weeks when I was in Nasser Hospital – and there will be many, many more deaths until the Israelis allow proper food to get in there.”
Palestinians wait to receive food from a charity kitchen in Gaza City. Pic: Reuters
In other developments:
• Israel and the US have recalled their teams from Gaza ceasefire talks
• US envoy Steve Witkoff has accused Hamas “of failing to act in good faith”
• France has announced that it will recognise the state of Palestine
• An influential group of MPs is calling on the UK to “immediately” do the same
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‘Starvation used as a weapon’
‘They were shells’
Dr Nick Maynard has been going to Gaza for the past 15 years – and this is his third visit to the territory since the war began.
The British surgeon added that virtually all of the kids in the paediatric unit of Nasser Hospital are being fed with sugar water.
“They’ve got a small amount of formula feed for very small babies, but not enough,” he warned.
Dr Maynard said the lack of aid has also had a huge impact on his colleagues.
“I saw people I’d known for years and I didn’t recognise some of them,” he added. “Two colleagues had lost 20kg and 30kg respectively. They were shells, they’re all hungry.
“They’re going to work every day, then going home to their tents where they have no food.”
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Ex-Gaza aid worker claims personnel shot at Palestinians
IDF ‘shooting Gazans at aid points’
Elsewhere in the interview, Dr Maynard claimed Israeli soldiers are shooting civilians at aid points “almost like a game of target practice”.
He has operated on boys as young as 11 who had been “shot at food distribution points” run by the US and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
“They had gone to get food for their starving families and they were shot,” he said.
“I operated on one 12-year-old boy who died on the operating table because his injuries were so severe.”
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Gaza deaths increase when aid sites open
Dr Maynard continued: “What was even more distressing was the pattern of injuries that we saw, the clustering of injuries to particular body parts on certain days.
“One day they’d be coming in predominately with gunshot wounds to the head or the neck, another day to the abdomen.
“Twelve days ago, four young teenage boys came in, all of whom had been shot in the testicles and deliberately so.
“The clustering was far too obvious to be accidental, and it seemed to us like this was almost like a game of target practice.
“I would never have believed this possible unless I’d witnessed this with my own eyes.”
Palestinians brought to Nasser Hospital after being shot by Israeli forces, according to hospital officials and eyewitnesses. Pic: AP
Sky News has contacted the Israeli Defence Forces for comment.
An IDF spokesperson previously told Sky News it “strongly rejected” the accusations that its forces were instructed to deliberately shoot at civilians.
“To be clear, IDF directives prohibit deliberate attacks on civilians,” the spokesperson said, adding that the incidents are “being examined by the relevant IDF authorities”.
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Medics at Nasser hospital struggle to feed children
Gaza food situation ‘worst its ever been’
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Israeli military show aid waiting inside Gaza
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has been managing the supply of aid to Gaza since Israel lifted an 11-week blockade in May.
It has four aid distribution sites, all of which are located in Israeli military zones, with journalists prohibited from entering.
More than 1,000 people have been reported killed while trying to receive food aid since the GHF took over, according to the UN.
UNRWA, its relief agency for Gaza, has heavily criticised the scheme.
Commissioner general Philippe Lazzarini said: “The so-called ‘GHF’ distribution scheme is a sadistic death trap. Snipers open fire randomly on crowds as if they are given a licence to kill.”
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Just a fraction of the aid trucks needed are making it into the enclave, the UN has said, while multiple aid groups and the World Health Organisation have warned Gazans are facing “mass starvation”.
Mr Lazzarini quoted a colleague on Thursday and said malnourished Palestinians in the Gaza “are neither dead nor alive, they are walking corpses”.
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