Britain’s Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab announced his resignation on Friday after an independent report found he had morally bullied officials, a setback for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, of whom he was a close ally.
“I am writing to resign from your government,” writes Mr. Raab, also Minister of Justice, in the letter addressed to Rishi Sunak. “I had asked for this investigation and committed to resigning if it found facts of harassment, whatever they were. I think it’s important to keep my word,” he wrote.
This inquiry had been launched after eight complaints about his conduct as Foreign Secretary, Brexit Secretary or during a previous visit to the Ministry of Justice.
Dominic Raab has consistently denied these allegations, which have poisoned the government for months and drawn widespread criticism from the opposition.
This report, which was presented to the Prime Minister on Thursday and has not yet been published, “rejects all the complaints except two”, the minister specifies in his letter and continues to judge them “false”.
The findings of the investigation “set a dangerous precedent for government behavior,” he said.
Also on Thursday, Downing Street showed its “total confidence” in its Deputy Prime Minister while claiming to “carefully study the report’s conclusions”.
He is the third minister to resign from Rishi Sunak’s government following various allegations, adding another stain to the prime minister’s pledge to show “integrity, professionalism and accountability” in office following the series of scandals under Boris Johnson .
In November, Gavin Williamson, a minister without portfolio in Rishi Sunak’s government, resigned following allegations of harassment.
And in January, Rishi Sunak had to sack conservative party president Nadhim Zahawi, who sat on the Council of Ministers as such, over tax disputes.