After Theresa May announced her resignation as prime minister, Dominic Raab put himself forward as the “only Brexiteer you can rely on”.
He campaigned against Boris Johnson for the Conservative Party leadership in 2019 and lost.
Rewind to three years before that and the two men were matey.
In 2016, Mr Raab worked alongside Mr Johnson to push for the UK’s exit from the European Union. They succeeded.
Now, Mr Raab is at Mr Johnson’s side again as the PM juggles the leadership while being treated for worsening coronavirus symptoms in an intensive care unit at St Thomas’ Hospital in London.
The country is looking to its leader for guidance through the coronavirus pandemic – the biggest crisis since World War II.
Although the UK government insists Mr Johnson remains in charge, the spotlight has now been turned on Mr Raab to deputise “where necessary”.
Unlike in other countries, the UK’s leader does not have a deputy so there is no clear line of succession.
But late last month when Mr Johnson tested positive for COVID-19, Downing Street designated Mr Raab as Mr Johnson’s right-hand-man should his health reach grave levels.
For now though, Mr Raab has been insisting that the PM is still in charge, even from an intensive care bed.
Seven things to know about Dominic Raab
- Mr Raab’s mother brought him up in the Church of England. His dad came to Britain as a child refugee and died of cancer when Mr Raab was 12
- He went on to study law at Oxford University, achieved a master’s degree at Cambridge University, then became a qualified solicitor in 2000
- In 2011, a year after entering Parliament, Mr Raab said feminists were “amongst the most obnoxious bigots” in the UK. But that wasn’t all. He claimed, “men work longer hours, die earlier, but retire later than women”. Just last year, he defended his controversial comments, telling the BBC it was “really important that in the debate on equality we have consistency and not double standards and hypocrisy”
- Mr Raab worked different jobs as a junior minister for the May government in the eight years to July 2018, when he was appointed Brexit secretary. He stepped down from the role after about four months. He strongly opposed the party’s proposed Brexit withdrawal agreement, saying in his resignation letter to Ms May “you deserve a Brexit secretary who can make the case for the deal you are pursuing with conviction”
- In 2019, Mr Raab vied to be Britain’s next Conservative leader following Ms May’s resignation. Despite calling himself the only candidate who can “be trusted to deliver Brexit”, Mr Raab didn’t make it far enough in the Tory leadership race to go head to head against Mr Johnson. Instead, he decided to back Mr Johnson after MPs voted to eliminate him in the second round of voting
- After Mr Johnson won the leadership contest, he took out rival Jeremy Hunt, who was Britain’s Foreign Secretary, and replaced him with Mr Raab on July 24
- The initial news that he would fill in for Mr Johnson if he became too unwell was, according to one opinion article, received like “a cup of cold sick” by his cabinet rivals. They apparently believed he lacked emotional intelligence and feared he wouldn’t be able to rise to the job.
The post Boris Johnson’s No.2 at Number 10: Meet Dominic Raab appeared first on The New Daily.
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