Tory bully Dominic Raab trying to reinvent himself as after dinner speaker

05 September 2023 , 16:39

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Dominic Raab is being touted as available to speak on topics including terrorism and climate change (Image: PA)

Tory bully Dominic Raab is trying to reinvent himself as an after dinner speaker after being forced out of the Cabinet in disgrace.

The MP resigned as Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Secretary in April after an inquiry into bullying allegations found he had been "intimidating" and "aggressive" towards officials.

Mr Raab, who has announced he will step down at the next election, has signed up to Chartwell Speakers Bureau in the hope of cashing in on his time in Government.

The speaking agency’s website advertises how the ex-minister is available to speak on topics including terrorism, climate change, UK foreign policy and Western tensions with China. But it makes no mention of how he lost his job over bullying or his appalling track record as Foreign Secretary. Mr Raab infamously remained on a beach holiday as Kabul fell to the Taliban. He later defended himself by insisting: “The sea was actually closed.”

As he joins the lucrative speaking circuit, Mr Raab will be able to draw on his experience standing in for Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak at Prime Minister’s Questions. He was ridiculed after appearing to confuse Paul O’Grady with Larry Grayson during one of his appearances earlier this year. And he faced embarrassment as Brexit Secretary in 2018, when he admitted at a conference that he "hadn't quite understood" how reliant UK trade in goods is on the Dover-Calais crossing.

Rishi Sunak must suspend Dominic Raab during bullying inquiry says union chief

Mr Raab left Government earlier this year after an investigation by Adam Tolley KC found he had “gone further” than appropriate in delivering critical feedback and being insulting about work done by Ministry of Justice officials. The leading employment barrister concluded that civil servants had found him “unreasonably difficult to deal with” as he was sometimes “abrasive”.

The Mirror previously reported Mr Raab had been nicknamed “The Incinerator” because he “burned through” staff so quickly.

He will join former PMs Boris Johnson, Theresa May and Liz Truss, who have all been raking in cash as after dinner speakers, although he is unlikely to be able to command such high fees. Mr Johnson has been getting up to £277,000 a speech, Ms May up to £121,000 and Ms Truss up to £80,000.

Mr Raab, who first entered the Commons in 2010, announced in the wake of the bullying report that he would not seek re-election as the MP for Esher and Walton. The seat is seen as vulnerable to the Liberal Democrats after he saw his majority slashed to just 2,743 votes.

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John Stevens