Dominic Raab has angrily dismissed the findings of a bullying inquiry that has prompted him to resign as justice secretary and deputy prime minister.
The five-month probe, by a senior lawyer, was set up by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak after complaints about Mr Raab’s behaviour as a minister.
In a letter to Mr Sunak, Mr Raab said he would resign if the inquiry “made any finding of bullying whatsoever”.
He said the inquiry “dismissed all but two of the claims levelled against me”.
Mr Raab said two findings that went against him were “flawed” and “set a dangerous precedent for the conduct of good government”.
The report on the inquiry by senior lawyer Adam Tolley KC has been published by the government.
In a letter to Mr Raab, Mr Sunak said his former deputy had kept his word after “rightly” undertaking to resign if the report made any finding of bullying whatsoever.
But the prime minister said he thought there had been “shortcomings in the historic process that have negatively affected everyone involved”.
Mr Raab’s political fate had been hanging in the balance for about 24 hours after the prime minister received the report from Mr Tolley on Thursday morning.
The resignation of Mr Raab – one of Mr Sunak’s key supporters during the Conservative leadership contest last year – means the prime minister will need to appoint a new justice secretary.
Mr Tolley was investigating eight formal complaints of bullying against Mr Raab, who was appointed deputy prime minister and justice secretary last October.
The bullying complaints, which involved 24 people, relate to Mr Raab’s previous periods as justice secretary and foreign secretary under Boris Johnson, and his time as Brexit secretary under Theresa May.
Mr Sunak has been under pressure to explain what he knew about the allegations before reappointing Mr Raab as to the cabinet.