Oliver Dowden named British Deputy PM after Dominic Raab quits

London: The British government on Friday named Oliver Dowden as the deputy prime minister, replacing Dominic Raab who resigned earlier in the day following an investigation into claims that he bullied colleagues.

As UK’s deputy prime minister, Dominic Raab had no formal powers but often stepped in for prime minister Rishi Sunak if he was away from parliament or incapacitated.

Oliver Dowden currently serves as cabinet office minister in Sunak’s government. He was previously chairman of the Conservative Party but resigned from that post last June after two crushing by-election defeats for the party.

In the same announcement, lawmaker Alex Chalk was appointed new justice minister, a position which was previously held by Dominic Raab.

Raab’s resignation led to a mini reshuffle in the British Cabinet with Alex Chalk, a former junior minister in the Ministry of Defence replacing him as Justice Secretary. Chalk’s appointment on Friday makes the Cheltenham MP the 11th person appointed Justice Secretary since the Conservatives came to power in Britain in 2010.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak who was earlier criticised for not sacking his deputy despite the ongoing probe into his behaviour with subordinates and officials accepted Raab’s resignation earlier in the day with what he called “great sadness”.

Raab, who was known to be a staunch ally of Indian-origin Sunak put in his papers earlier in the day accepting the findings of the investigation led by Adam Tolley KC. His resignation dealt a major blow to Sunak who will now have to answer crucial questions over his judgment in permitting Raab to hang on to his post.

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