British Prime Minister Theresa May has appointed Dominic Raab as the new Brexit secretary.
May was forced to do an emergency cabinet reshuffle when David Davis suddenly resigned Sunday night.
Key Resignations
Not 24 hours after Brexit Secretary Dave Davis resigned, Prime Minister May was faced with another key resignation. Boris Johnson, Great Britain’s Foreign Secretary, also resigned. The second departure occurred shortly after the P.M. appointed Dominic Raab as the new Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union.
These resignations have forced May to work to keep a crisis at bay, reshuffling her cabinet once and then requiring a second move within the span of a day. The P.M.’s minority government is threatening to topple as two key Brexit negotiations ministers leave.
David Davis’s Resignation
The first resignation was David Davis’s, which took place on Sunday night. He stated that Prime Minister May’s close trade and regulatory ties with the European Union would give “too much away, too easily.” The resignation fell three days after the government announced its Brexit policy.
May moved quickly to appoint the younger, euroskeptic Dominic Raab. The P.M. stated that the new 44 year-old Brexit secretary would be a part of her determination to move forward with her vision of Britain’s exit from the E.U. in under a year. Raab is somewhat inexperienced, compared to Davis, but is a Brexit supporter. Until gaining this new position, Raab had been the British Housing Minister.
Boris Johnson’s Resignation
Johnson is one of Great Britain’s most recognized politicians and was one of the lead Brexit advocates both before and after the referendum that decided it would move forward. He has never hidden his ambitions to become P.M. That said, he resigned as foreign secretary on Monday. Early this year – Patrick Wintour, Editor at the Guardian and select committee member, said Johnson’s department did not properly prepare for Brexit.
Johnson submitted a resignation letter that left accusations against the Prime Minister of flying “white flags” in surrender to the European Union in their negotiations. He stated in the letter that “the Brexit dream is dying, suffocated by needless self doubt.”
This latest resignation has only added to the growing list of positions which must be filled. May must now fill Raab’s former job, as well as the junior Brexit minister’s spot, as Steve Baker also resigned on Sunday night.