Dominic Raab is paying his legal fees in this case. Credit: Shutterstock
Dominic Raab's fate as Deputy Prime Minister is expected to be decided within the next 48 hours, with Whitehall preparing to publish a report on the bullying as early as Thursday.
On Wednesday evening, Downing Street was preparing to receive a report from Adam Tolley, KC, who was conducting the investigation. allegations of a toxic culture under Mr. Raab for five months.
Mr. Raab, who is also Minister of Justice, has always denied these allegations and publicly pledged to resign if the investigation found that he bullied a junior staffer.
Rishi Sunak has been waiting to make a judgment on his deputy's future until he gets an independent report, but Whitehall insiders expect them to make a quick call once the findings are out.
If Mr. Raab does leave, other cabinet minister positions could change in a mini-reshuffle due to unrelated events.
Michelle Donelan, Secretary of State for Science, is due to go on maternity leave soon, creating a vacancy , which will likely be filled and announced at the same time if a replacement for Mr. Raab is required.
It was revealed on Wednesday that Mr. Raab is paying his legal fees, unlike Boris Johnson, whose defense against allegations that he misled MPs over a partygate is funded by the taxpayer.
Paying legal fees by the government was never an option for Mr Raab, given the nature of the investigation, according to a source close to him.
The case is 'unclear'
Because the fate of such a prominent MP hung on the Conservatives in the balance, critics and allies were looking for clues to the outcome.
The supportive Whitehall pointed to the length of the investigation, which was several months longer. than some assumed when the case was brought to suggest that the case was not “clean”.
But a source familiar with the details of some of the allegations made by the applicants claimed that Mr Raab’s ministerial career was likely , will be under threat. from the findings of the report.
Mr. Johnson and at least three permanent secretaries who served under Mr. Raab are among those who testified to Mr. Tolly.
< p>It is not clear how long Mr Sunak and his Downing Street team will review the report before it is published. They pledged to make the results public.
When Mr. Johnson was given Sue Gray's report on allegations of violating quarantine by partying, it was quickly released to the public, setting a precedent for such documents to be made public as soon as possible.
>Known PM sponsor
Mr. Raab was one of Mr. Sunak's best-known supporters during his race for the Tory lead both last summer and fall.
The Conservative MP for Escher and Walton also served as Mr. Johnson's Deputy Prime Minister and publicly supported Mr. Johnson. Sunak at the start of the latter's campaign in the summer of 2022.
Liz Truss fired him from office when she was prime minister, but Mr. Sunak returned him to his former roles.
>Mr. Raab has previously spoken of the bullying allegations against him: «I'm sure I've always acted professionally.»
The former Conservative chairman suggested it was " #34;wrong" that Mr. Raab continue to do his job while he is under investigation.
Sir Jake Berry criticized "outdated" systems for dealing with such complaints in Westminster amid reports of an appearance on Peston's ITV show on Wednesday night.
Sir Jake, who worked in the offices of Boris Johnson and Theresa May, said: "It seems completely wrong to me that when people are under this type of investigation of this type, they continue their work"
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