Dominic Raab to stand down as MP at next election weeks after quitting Cabinet over bullying allegations
23 May 2023, 01:15 | Updated: 23 May 2023, 16:48
Dominic Raab 'will stand down' as an MP at the next election, weeks after he quit the government over claims he bullied civil servants.
Mr Raab, 47, was elected as an MP in 2010, and has held a series of senior Cabinet roles.
But in a letter seen by The Telegraph, he said he has "become increasingly concerned" about "the pressure the job has placed on my young family", and won't run again.
Mr Raab becomes the latest Tory MP to announce they will not be standing the next time country heads to the ballot box, after other ex-cabinet ministers including Sajid Javid, Matt Hancock, George Eustice and Nadine Dorries also announced they would not be contesting their seats.
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Last month, a bullying investigation into Mr Raab's behaviour found that he acted in an "intimidating" fashion and had been "persistently aggressive" towards officials.
The report looked into eight formal complaints against Mr Raab relating to his time as justice secretary, foreign secretary and Brexit secretary, with two upheld.
Mr Raab denied the allegations, insisting that he has "behaved professionally at all times" and said he would resign from his posts as justice secretary and deputy prime minister should an allegation of bullying be upheld.
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He quit after the report was published, but took aim at the inquiry in a fiery resignation latter, branding it flawed and claiming that its conclusions "set a dangerous precedent for the conduct of good government".
He later slammed what he called a "Kafkaesque saga" for which the British people would pay the price, adding that the investigation had set a "playbook for a small number of officials to target ministers".
Mr Raab retained his seat in the 2019 election with a slender 2,700 majority, having previously won it comfortably with over 23,000 votes in 2017.
The seat will now be a major target for the Lib Dems in the next general election, which is due to take place next year.
