On Friday (21), the British government announced the appointment of Oliver Dowden as the new deputy prime minister, in place of Dominic Raab who resigned earlier in the day amidst allegations of bullying colleagues.
Although the role of deputy prime minister does not entail formal powers, it involves deputizing for the prime minister when he is absent from parliament or unable to perform his duties.
Dowden is presently serving as the cabinet office minister in the Sunak government.
He had previously served as the chairman of the Conservative Party under Sunak’s leadership but had stepped down from the position in June last year after the party suffered two crushing by-election defeats.
Along with Dowden’s appointment, Alex Chalk, a lawmaker, was also named as the new justice minister, a position previously held by Raab.
With inputs from Reuters
