Dominic Raab, English lawyer and politician
Dominic Rennie Raab (born 25 February 1974) is a British politician serving as Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor since 2021. He has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Esher and Walton since 2010. A member of the Conservative Party, he served as Brexit Secretary in 2018 and First Secretary of State and Foreign Secretary from 2019 to 2021.
Born in Buckinghamshire, Raab attended Dr Challoner's Grammar School. He studied law at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, switching to Jesus College, Cambridge for his master's degree. He began his career as a lawyer at Linklaters, before working at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and as a political aide. He was elected for Esher and Walton at the 2010 general election. He served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Civil Liberties and Human Rights from 2015 to 2016. Following Theresa May's appointment as Prime Minister, Raab returned to the backbenches, but was appointed to the second May government as Minister of State for Courts and Justice following the 2017 general election. In the 2018 cabinet reshuffle he was moved to the post of Minister of State for Housing and Planning.
In 2018 Raab was promoted to Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union following the resignation of David Davis. However, two weeks later, Raab was deputised by May to negotiate Britain's departure from the European Union, leaving him to oversee domestic preparations instead. Four months later, Raab resigned as Brexit Secretary in opposition to May's draft Brexit withdrawal agreement.
Following May's resignation in 2019, Raab ran to succeed her, but was eliminated in the second ballot of Conservative MPs. Following Boris Johnson's appointment as Prime Minister, Raab was appointed First Secretary of State and Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs. In 2020, when the Department for International Development was merged with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Raab's post was retitled Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs. In the 2021 cabinet reshuffle he was moved to the posts of Deputy Prime Minister, Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor.