The British government named Oliver Dowden deputy prime minister on Friday, replacing Dominic Raab who resigned earlier in the day following a report into claims he bullied colleagues.
Dowden currently serves as cabinet office minister in Sunak’s government. He was previously chairman of Sunak’s 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 Raab. Raab stepped down as the deputy prime minister following an independent investigation into complaints that he bullied colleagues, the latest scandal to force out one of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s top ministers.The loss of the third senior minister over their personal conduct in the last six months will damage Sunak’s efforts to revive the governing Conservative Party’s fortunes and is a major embarrassment as he had entered Downing Street in October promising a government of integrity.—Reuters
