Dominic Raab has said he will resign following the conclusion of an inquiry into bullying allegations. Rishi Sunak yesterday received the long-awaited report into bullying allegations made against the Deputy Prime Minister.
Downing Street confirmed the review was handed over to the Prime Minister by senior lawyer Adam Tolley KC.
The Deputy Prime Minister has been under investigation for months over eight formal complaints about his behaviour as foreign secretary, Brexit secretary and during his first stint as justice secretary.
Mr Sunak, who pledged to uphold “integrity, professionalism and accountability” in government, had been braced for the probe led by Mr Tolley into Mr Raab’s conduct during stints in three departments to conclude.
Mr Raab, who is also Justice Secretary, previously insisted he believes “heart and soul” that he is not a bully but defended his “forthright” approach to his work.
Mr Tolley is said to have been “thorough” in his handling of the investigation, which began in November.
He has interviewed Mr Raab multiple times, and spoken to or taken written evidence from a number of others.
It comes after former Conservative Party chairman Sir Jake Berry hit out at the “outdated” system for dealing with complaints in Westminster which allowed Mr Raab to continue in his job while under investigation.
Sir Jake said it was “wrong” for Mr Raab to continue in his job while facing bullying allegations.
Appearing on ITV’s Peston show last night, the Tory MP said: “It does seem to me quite wrong that when people are under these kinds of investigations of this type that they continue in their job.
“Whatever the outcome is, and we’re going to find out tomorrow, I actually think there’s a fundamental rethink required about how we deal with these sorts of allegations, both in Government made against ministers and made against Members of Parliament.
“It’s a massively outdated system that isn’t what our constituents would expect of any of us.”
It emerged on Wednesday that Mr Raab had forked out for his own legal team to defend himself against the allegations.
The declaration in the heavily delayed register of ministerial interests came despite the taxpayer footing an estimated £222,000 bill for Boris Johnson’s legal fees in the partygate inquiry into whether he lied to MPs.
In the register, Mr Raab’s entry notes read: “The minister has engaged lawyers at his own expense in relation to the investigation being conducted by Adam Tolley KC.”