LONDON: 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.
As deputy prime minister, Raab had no formal powers but stepped in for the prime minister if he was away from parliament or incapacitated.
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.
Chalk, 46, previously served in the Ministry of Defence as Minister for Defence Procurement — a post he had held since Rishi Sunak became prime minister in October.
Chalk served as a lawyer for 14 years before becoming a lawmaker in 2015. He specialised in counter-terrorism, homicide and serious fraud cases before entering politics. SEE ALSO P5
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