Overview
The son of Czech refugees fleeing Nazi Germany, is the self-styled ‘tough guy boxer’ who was appointed justice secretary and deputy prime minister under Rishi Sunak in October 2022.
He resigned in April 2023, following claims of bullying were detailed in the Tolley Report into his dealings with civil servants as a minister. In May 2023, Mr Raab detailed his intention to step down from Westminster at the next election citing the impact his political career was having on his young family and his two sons aged, 10 and 8.
Mr Raab held the same role, between First Secretary of State and between 2019 and 2021. Raab was required to deputise for as he suffered in hospital from COVID-19.
Having backed Rishi Sunak in the 2022 Conservative leadership election, Raab was dismissed from the Cabinet by Liz Truss upon her becoming prime minister in September 2022.
Dominic Raab has a black belt in Karate and is a keen amateur boxer.
Political Career
In 2010, Raab won the ‘safe’ Tory seat of Esher and Walton, and he continued to hold the seat in 2015 and 2017 with substantial margins.
However, Raab’s constituency in South West London is located in an area of the country where the Liberal Democrats have tended to poll well, and after a determined attack by the Lib Dems, Raab’s majority was reduced to only 2,743 in 2019.
Esher and Walton is now a marginal seat and, no doubt, the Lib Dem’s will look to complete the scalp at the next election. Just as other high profile figures such as Michael Portillo, Ed Balls, and Nick Clegg have all become unstuck in the past, it is certainly possible that the night of the next election might be a publicly uncomfortable one for .
Raab was first appointed to the Cabinet as ‘s in 2018. Before this, Raab held junior Government roles at the Ministry of Justice (2017-2018) and as of State for Housing (2018-2019).
A hard-line Brexiter, he was appointed in 2019, after himself standing in the Conservative leadership election that Summer.
Demoted from the in the September 2021 reshuffle, became the and Secretary of State for Justice. Raab was said to have been very angry at being moved by Boris Johnson. It came just a month after Raab had attracted criticism for his handling of the was on holiday at the time that the Taliban were seizing control of Afghanistan.
As Raab was responsible for plans to replace the with a British Bill of Rights. He was publicly critical of the , claiming it was in need of an overhaul, after it rejected his appeal against the decision to free the mother of from .
Political Views
Raab was a prominent Brexiteer in the referendum campaign and continued to espouse hard-Brexit values in his subsequent ministerial posts. After the publication of ‘s Withdrawal Agreement, Raab refused to support her deal, resigning from his post as Brexit in 2018.
Raab championed his hard-Brexiteer credentials throughout the 2019 Leadership election. He set himself aside from the other candidates by arguing that proroguing Parliament should not be ruled out so to push through a no-deal Brexit.
Not afraid to say what he thinks, in 2011 Raab commented: ‘From the cradle to the grave, men are getting a raw deal. Feminists are now amongst the most obnoxious bigots’.
In 2017 Raab commented that people who use food banks are not typically in poverty but have an occasional ‘cashflow problem’.
In the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, Raab maintained he would not ‘take the knee’ because it was ‘a symbol of subjugation and subordination’.
Background
How old is ?
Dominic Rennie Raab was born on the 25th of February 1974.
What did do before politics?
Born and raised in Buckingham, Raab went to Dr Challoners Grammar School in Amersham.
He studied law at Oxford University and then later took a Masters at Cambridge University. At Cambridge, Raab won the Clive Parry Prize for .
Raab began his career as an international lawyer at Linklaters, working on project finance, international litigation and competition law.
In 2000, Raab joined the Foreign & Commonwealth Office as an adviser on legal issues. Twenty years later as a politician, he became Raab, in charge of the whole Department.
In 2006, Raab was appointed Chief-of-Staff to the long time . Mr Davis, himself a former SAS reservists, was said to have been more impressed with ‘s black belt in Karate, than his Oxbridge education.
Is married?
is married to Brazilian Erika Rey, who formerly worked as a marketing executive at Google. The couple have two sons.
Things you might not know about
He has an Oxford Blue in Boxing
Raab is a black-belt in karate and was captain of the karate club at Oxford University. He ‘holds a black belt 3rd Dan in karate and is a former UK Southern Regions champion and British squad member.
Raab also enjoys boxing. He possesses an Oxford ‘Blue’ in boxing and is said to continue to train from time to time at the Thames Ditton Boxing Club in his constituency.
He was said to have a picture of the famous boxer, Muhammad Ali, in his Commons office.
In 2022, the boxing promoter detailed how he was getting together with Raab to talk about boxing, saying Raab was, ‘a big believer in what boxing can do in the community’.
He defended Tony Blair against Milošević
Raab joined the Foreign & Commonwealth Office as a civil servant in 2000. Raab was posted to The Hague to head up a new team focused on bringing war criminals to justice in 2003. One of these figures was the Former President of Serbia, Slobodan Milosevic.
In 2006, Raab defended Tony Blair against a subpoena from former Yugoslav President Milošević.
His father fled Germany in 1938
Raab’s parents were Czech refugees who fled from the Nazis in 1938. His father, Peter, died of cancer when Raab was just 12. Describing how he coped with his father’s death, Raab has regularly referred to how an involvement in sport helped restore his confidence.
Further Information
Twitter – @DominicRaab
Facebook Address – @DominicRaabMP
node=”text”>Personal Website – www.dominicraab.com
Raab agrees government must ‘continually challenge itself’ on Russian sanctions
Raab admits ‘there will not be a peaceful settlement’ with Putin
