The British government has named Oliver Dowden as the country’s deputy prime minister on Friday.
He replaced Dominic Raab who resigned on Friday following a case of bullying staff during his time in government.
Recall that Raab, who also quit as justice secretary, said in a resignation letter he felt “duty bound to accept the outcome of the inquiry” but said it “dismissed all but two of the claims levelled against me”.
READ ALSO: UK Deputy PM, Raab Resigns After Bullying Allegations
Tweeting after the announcement, Dowden said: “Deeply honoured to have been asked to serve as deputy prime minister. I look forward to working even more closely with the prime minister as we tackle the issues that matter most to the people of this country.”
Sunak’s appointment of Dowden as deputy prime minister cements his reputation in government as the prime minister’s right-hand man, after a stint in the Cabinet Office where he was responsible for coordinating the government’s response to winter strikes.
Dowden was culture, media and sport secretary for 18 months in Boris Johnson’s government, during which time he provided emergency funding for the arts during the pandemic and also banned Huawei from UK 5G networks, the Guardian UK reports.
Also, lawmaker Alex Chalk was appointed new justice minister, a position which was previously held by Raab.
