FORMER Tory party chairman Oliver Dowden has been appointed Deputy Prime Minister following Dominic Raab's resignation.
Defence minister Alex Chalk has been appointed to the role of Justice Secretary as Rishi Sunak moved to quickly fill a hole in his Cabinet following the bullying probe into Raab.
Raab resigned from his dual roles after an inquiry found he acted in an intimidating and aggressive way with officials in behaviour that could have amounted to bullying.
Dowden, 44, who quit his party role after two stinging by-election defeats, served as chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster from October 2022 and then secretary of state for the Cabinet Office since February 2023.
The Tory MP also was appointed culture secretary in 2020, and we revealed that he had previously written a pro-Union column on Burns Night, using the poet's words to lay out his opposition to Scottish independence.
Dowden was also chief of staff for former Tory prime minister David Cameron and is a key Sunak ally.
Chalk, 46, minister for defence procurement, and MP for Cheltenham, was spotted entering Downing Street on Friday afternoon, following confirmation that Raab had resigned.
A former lawyer specialising in counter-terrorism, homicide and serious fraud, Chalk becomes the tenth justice secretary in the UK Government in 10 years, and according to reports will also serve as lord chancellor.
It comes as Raab quit Sunak’s Cabinet following the conclusion of an inquiry into bullying allegations.
Raab's letter also appeared to suggest he felt he had done nothing wrong, claiming the threshold for bullying was set "so low" it would set a "dangerous precedent".
And now, Sunak has conducted a mini-reshuffle to fill the gaps in his ministerial team.
Chloe Smith will cover as Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology while Michelle Donelan is on maternity leave, No 10 said.
Labour's shadow justice secretary Steve Reed said that Chalk was the “11th Conservative Justice Secretary in 13 chaotic years that have destroyed the justice system”.
It comes as Downing Street suggested that Sunak accepts that Raab broke the ministerial code with the finding of bullying.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “You can see the aspects relevant to the code are set out in the report. I think those speak for themselves.
“The Prime Minister thinks it’s right that any findings whatsoever that are deemed to be bullying, it’s right to resign. That’s the commitment the former secretary of state made and he’s upheld that commitment.”
Asked whether he would condemn the behaviour, the spokesman said: “Clearly, any bullying in general terms is unacceptable and there are clear rules that apply to that.”
