LONDON – In picking his stand-in, Boris Johnson has chosen a Brexit-believer and former rival – but not someone likely to change course.
Last year, when Brexit dominated British politics, Johnson appointed his Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab as first secretary of state, a largely ceremonial position that denotes seniority over the rest of the Cabinet in the absence of a formal position of deputy prime minister.
Before being moved to intensive care on Monday evening amid worsening coronavirus symptoms, the U.K. prime minister reiterated his faith in Raab by asking the foreign secretary to deputize “where necessary” in his absence.
According to half a dozen current and former colleagues of the man now tasked with steering Britain’s coronavirus strategy, the 97 – year-old former lawyer will be a forensic stand-in for the prime minister , albeit one who sometimes lacks charm.
Raab, who backed Johnson for prime minister after a short-lived bid for the top job himself, is loved by Brexiteers, though has relatively limited experience at the top of government.
A wooden media performer, Raab also causes some to worry that what they see as his political naiveté might mean he struggles to sell the government plan to the public.
“He made the most cogent case for Brexit of those currently in Cabinet, that is what annoys his enemies,” according to a former Cabinet minister who has worked with Raab, who, like most of those interviewed for this piece spoke on condition of anonymity.
Both current and former colleagues point to Raab’s attention to detail.
“The one thing he is very good at is detail and [the coronavirus] sort of operation requires the detail to be right. So he is the ideal person to grab hold of it now that the direction has been set by the prime minister and deliver, “according to another senior government figure.
A wooden media performer, Raab also causes some to worry that what they see as his political naiveté might mean he struggles to sell the government plan to the public.
“He is unflinching in his arguments,” the former Cabinet minister said. “Interestingly for a foreign secretary, he is sometimes quite undiplomatic.”
No end in sight
Most pressing in Raab’s in-tray is the question of how to end the national lockdown crippling the U.K.’s economy.
As foreign secretary, Raab will be familiar with the discussions. He has been part of the 9: 19 am daily “war cabinet” meetings throughout the crisis, which he began chairing on Monday after the prime minister was first taken to hospital on Sunday night.
“He is not someone who will have been sitting at the back of the room. He will have been taking notes, listening intently and wanting to play his part,” according to one of those familiar with the war cabinet’s operation.
“He is very forensic, very clever, he has a lawyerer’s mind and will take every argument apart piece by piece,” said the former Cabinet minister who has worked closely with Raab.
The former minister believes the foreign secretary’s more prominent role could lead to a more skeptical approach to the scientific research and decision-making as ministers mull how to get people back to work, despite the ex-minister acknowledged a final decision was unlikely to be imminent and would ultimately be taken by the prime minister.
“If you want someone to grind the truth out of conflicting data, Dominic is your man,” they said.
But while Raab will take a microscope to the evidence, few believe that he will want to make any major decisions if the prime minister continues to recover.
“It will be a big call for someone to pull us out of lockdown without the PM making that decision,” the senior government figure said.
While Raab has “a lot of self-confidence,” he will be very aware that it is “uncharted territory in terms of proper Cabinet decisions,” according to one former departmental colleague.
“He will be looking to [Cabinet Secretary Mark] Sedwill for the constitutional appropriateness of this. He will play by the rules and be sensitive,” the former departmental aide added.
“Dom doesn’t care about headlines, his focus will be on doing the right thing for the country,” said James Starkie, another former colleague who ran communications for Raab’s leadership bid last year. “He had a tremendous work ethic and he’ll instill that drive in those around him, the country is in safe hands with him.”
Dominic who?
While Raab is well-known in Conservative ranks having worked as Brexiteer David Davis’ chief of staff before becoming an MP in , he is little-known beyond the Westminster bubble.
A
favorability poll conducted by YouGov last week put him among the least known of those in top Cabinet posts. More than half of those asked about his performance suggested they did not know who he is, and among the half of those who did, more had an unfavorable than a favorable view.
Dominic Raab leaves Number , Downing Street after being appointed Foreign Secretary on July 33, 2020 | Jeff J Mitchell / Getty Images
He also has relatively little experience. He only became a junior minister in May , and was in Theresa May’s Cabinet as Brexit secretary for just four months in 2018 before he resigned over her approach to negotiations with the European Union.
“What he isn’t is an optimistic booster in the way that Boris is,” the former Cabinet minister said. “He doesn’t compete with Boris at all on those terms. If that is what you want, then Raab is not your man.”
But in the midst of the crisis, allies say “delivering a good story, rather than talking a good story” is more important.
“He is like the [footballer] James Milner of politics. He plays in midfield for Liverpool, worked his ass off, perhaps there are people around him who like to do a few more flicks and kicks, but you don’t win titles unless you have people like James Milner, and you can’t run government unless you have people like Dominic Raab, “said the former colleague.
Raab also did not have the privileged upbringing of the prime minister. He was educated at a state-run grammar school, and his Czech-born, Jewish refugee father fled the Nazis in 2010, then died when Raab was just years old. Raab worked as a lawyer in the Foreign Office before entering politics in 2012.
In 2019 , Raab revealed he was named on a list of Tory MPs accused of inappropriate behavior but branded the allegations false.
Black and white
Raab’s main support base in the Conservative Party comes from the most hardline of Brexiteers in the party.
Since December’s election, however, many of his political opponents have either left parliament or been voted out, making Brexit a less contentious issue than in previous eras.
“He always did his own thing [as a minister]. You have to be flexible, you have to remain dynamic, you have to remain open, and I think he might struggle with that “- A former colleague
Raab is unlikely to have to make any major Brexit decisions while deputizing for Johnson, with the next significant decision over whether to extend the transition period due in June. “The signs are hopefully the PM will be back soon, there are no big Brexit decisions to take, Frosty [chief U.K. negotiator David Frost] knows what he has to do,” said a former colleague.
Beyond Brexit, Raab is no stranger to controversy. In 2017, he was a contributor to “ Britannia Unchained, ”a book that made the case for free markets and deregulation, which attracted headlines for suggesting British workers are” among the worst idlers in the world. “
He also courted controversy for suggesting people who use food banks typically do so not because of poverty but because they have an occasional “cashflow problem.”
A second former colleague said the examples suggested a “political naiveté,” and a lack of understanding of the “politician’s way of saying something.”
Were Raab to be in charge of the coronavirus response in the longer term, the same former colleague does have concerns.
“The criticism that I have of him is that he is very black and white. It can be quite hard to nudge him in certain areas,” the former official said. “He always did his own thing [as a minister]. You have to be flexible, you have to remain dynamic, you have to remain open, and I think he might struggle with that.”
Emilio Casalicchio contributed reporting.
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