UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak wrestled Thursday with the fate of his deputy Dominic Raab after an investigation concluded into alleged bullying by the Conservative minister.
Raab, who is justice secretary as well as deputy prime minister, has been under a cloud for allegedly victimizing his civil servants in three different government departments.
The controversy has dogged Sunak ever since he succeeded Boris Johnson in October with a pledge to restore “integrity, professionalism, and accountability” in government.
Sunak appointed senior employment lawyer Adam Tolley in November to look into two formal complaints leveled at Raab.
More complaints have emerged since from civil servants who worked with the minister, and the Financial Times newspaper quoted one person involved in the investigation as saying it was “devastating”.
Tolley sent his report to Sunak on Thursday morning, the prime minister’s spokesman confirmed.
Sunak retains “full confidence” in Raab but is “carefully considering the findings of the report”, he told reporters, refusing to say when it would be published.
Raab is widely expected to face dismissal if the complaints are upheld by Tolley, with Sunak and the Conservatives already staring at probable heavy losses in local elections on May 4.
In February, Raab insisted to Sky News that he had “behaved professionally throughout”.
But he added: “If an allegation of bullying is upheld, I would resign.”
In late January, the prime minister fired the wealthy chairman of the Conservative Party, Nadhim Zahawi, after a separate probe into Zahawi’s tax affairs.
Nodding to Zahawi’s abrupt dismissal, Sunak warned: “I won’t hesitate to take swift and decisive action” if given conclusive findings of wrongdoing by Raab.
But opposition parties will raise fresh questions about Sunak’s political judgment in retaining Raab and re-appointing the controversial interior minister Suella Braverman, in October.
Some 72 percent of voters believe Raab should resign if he is found to have engaged in bullying, and 44 percent think Sunak knew about the allegations when he appointed him, according to a new poll by Savanta.
“If the report’s findings are serious and Sunak fails to act, it could draw into contention the prime minister’s assertion that his government and leadership is markedly different to those of his predecessors when it comes to scandal and sleaze,” Savanta’s political research director Chris Hopkins commented.
If Raab does go, it would necessitate an earlier-than-expected cabinet reshuffle by Sunak at a sensitive juncture, ahead of the May elections.
He is reportedly likely to appoint a woman as justice secretary if he does fire Raab, after criticism over the gender imbalance in his top team.