Who is Boris Johnson’s stand-in, Dominic Raab? – Politico

According to half a dozen current and former colleagues of the man now tasked with steering Britain's coronavirus strategy, the 46-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.

"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 naivet might mean he struggles to sell the government's 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."

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 9:15 a.m. 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 lawyer'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, although 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 doesnt care about headlines, his focus will be on doing the right thing for the country," saidJames Starkie, another former colleague who ran communications for Raab's leadership bid last year. "He had a tremendous work ethic and hell instill that drive in those around him, the country is in safe hands with him."

While Raab is well-known in Conservative ranks having worked as Brexiteer David Davis' chief of staff before becoming an MP in 2010, 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 thanhalf 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.

He also has relatively little experience.He only became a junior minister in May 2015, 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'tis 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 arse 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 havethe 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 1938, then died when Raab was just 12 years old.Raab worked as a lawyer in the Foreign Office before entering politics in 2006.

In 2017, Raab revealed he was named on a list of Tory MPs accused of inappropriate behavior but branded the allegations false.

Raab's main support base in the Conservative Party comes from the most hardline ofBrexiteers 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.

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 2012, he was a contributor to Britannia Unchained, a book that made the case for free markets and deregulation, which attracted headlines for suggestingBritish 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 naivet," 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.

Are you a professional following the impact of Brexit on your industry? Brexit Transition Pro, our premium service for professionals, helps you navigate the policy, and regulatory changes to come. Email [emailprotected] to request a trial.

Read the rest here:
Who is Boris Johnson's stand-in, Dominic Raab? - Politico