Dominic Raab would emerge as one of the most prominent politicians of the 21st Century in the United Kingdom. A member of the Conservative Party, Raab would be something of a 'right hand' to two prime ministers.
He would serve as a secretary of minister under four prime ministers overall. But in recent months, his career was derailed by serious allegations of mistreating civil servants. And now, whatever the reason, Raab seems soon to leave behind his political career altogether.
Says he will not stand for re-election
Dominic Raab will not run for another term in the U.K.'s House of Commons, the BBC and Reuters report.
His stated reasoning is concerns his political career was placing on his family. Which is at least to a certain extent probably a very real concern. But there have also been very real questions about how much further Raab could go in Parliament.
Prior to his announcement about not running, there had been numerous calls for his resignation from the House. He had already done so as far as serving in the role of deputy prime minister. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was widely believed to have been preparing to dismiss him from the job. But Raab's resignation beat him to the proverbial punch.
It came after an investigation into Raab's behavior during the premiership of Prime Minister Boris Johnson. The investigation found that he had bullied staffers and acted in an intimidating, abrasive, controlling and harassing manner.
Raab denied that he behaved in such ways, but stepped down nonetheless.
Raab was first elected to Parliament in 2010, representing the Surrey constituency of Esher and Walton. Eventually, he was appointed to ministerial roles by Prime Ministers David Cameron and Theresa May. May later promoted him to a Cabinet posting as the so-called Brexit secretary.
Raab made a player at becoming the next Conservative leader, and by extension prime minister, after May's announced departure. Boris Johnson would emerge as the winner, but Raab would become arguably his closest ally. Johnson named him initially in the prestigious roles of first secretary of state and foreign secretary. He was later shuffled to the also esteemed roles of deputy prime minister, justice secretary and lord chancellor.
During the brief tenure of Prime Minister Liz Truss, Raab returned to the backbenches. After Sunak's ascension, he returned to the same roles he'd most recently held under Johnson. Though that didn't end up being for long either.
Is the son of a refugee
Dominic Raab is a native of Gerrards Cross in Buckinghamshire. His father, Peter, fled with his family as a child from Nazis in their homeland, what was then Czechoslovakia. They would take shelter at a refugee camp in Morocco before settling in the United Kingdom. Peter Raab died from cancer when Dominic was a pre-teen.
The young Raab would be educated at Dr Challoner's Grammar School in Amersham. He later obtained degrees from both Oxford and Cambridge, as well as a black belt in karate. He and his wife, Erika, have two sons.
