Britain: British foreign minister Dominic Raab is designated to take over leadership of the country if Prime Minister Boris Johnson, currently ill in hospital with persistent symptoms of the coronavirus, is unable to fulfil his role.
On Friday, Johnson, announced that he had tested positive, but maintained that he would continue to “...lead the national fightback against coronavirus." But Raab stood in for him at Monday's meeting of the COVID-19 response committee.
Reports indicate that arrangements for a contingency plan are already underway.
A spokesperson for the Downing Street said on Thursday that Foreign Secretary, Raab would lead the nation owing to his status as First Secretary of State, which gives him seniority over others in the Cabinet, Daily Mail reported.
The spokesperson added that if the ‘designated survivor’ fell sick too, Johnson would delegate the responsibility to other senior ministers.
Dominic Raab was first Raab elected to parliament in 2010 and has been a part of Johnson's government since he became prime minister in July 2019. Raab is a contentious figure, having stirred many controversies with his comments. In 2011, Raab had termed feminists the “most obnoxious bigots in the UK”.
He is a hardline eurosceptic, who has long campaigned for Britain to leave the EU. While Brexit minister he was derided for saying that he hadn't fully realised how reliant Britain was on the Dover-Calais ferry crossing for trade. The route is one of Britain's busiest and most important links with continental Europe.
The son of a Czech-born Jewish refugee who fled the Nazis in 1938, Raab was brought up in the southern English region of Buckinghamshire and studied law at Oxford University before becoming a lawyer working on project finance, international litigation and competition law.
Before entering parliament in 2010 Raab also worked for Britain's diplomatic service including a posting in The Hague working on bringing war criminals to justice. He also advised the government on the Arab-Israeli conflict and counter-terrorism.
A karate black belt, he served briefly as Brexit minister under then-prime minister Theresa May before quitting in protest at her proposed deal to leave the EU.
The possibility of Raab stepping in has reportedly ruffled many feathers within the government, with many ministers pushing for Michael Gove, the Minister for the Cabinet Office, to take over.
The absence of a formal system of succession in the UK further complicates matters. Many countries have a formal system of succession, which lists individuals who would lead the nation in a situation where the leader is unable to perform the duties. The US, for example, has a ‘designated survivor’, who avoids major public events and would step in as commander in chief if something untoward happened.
Hours after Johnson made the announcement, British Health Secretary Matt Hancock said that he too, had tested positive for COVID-19. Hancock, like Johnson, said, he was experiencing mild symptoms of the disease and has been working from home for the past few days.
Raab, Gove, Finance Minister Rishi Sunak and Health Secretary Matt Hancock are viewed by many, as key figures in the government at a time when UK is reeling under the coronavirus outbreak.
After Prime Minister Johson tested positive, Downing Street is believed to have swung into action, putting in place plans that would guarantee the continuation of the government, but has chosen not to disclose the details publicly, the Daily Mail report said.
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