With British Prime Minister Boris Johnson suffering from the coronavirus in an intensive care unit in London, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab will be temporarily deputized to lead the United Kingdom government “where necessary.”
Johnson was admitted to St. Thomas’ Hospital on Sunday evening and was moved into an ICU Monday afternoon after his condition worsened. Raab, who has tested negative for the coronavirus, will be in charge of administering some of the prime minister’s duties while he recovers.
“The PM has asked Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who is the First Secretary of State, to deputise for him where necessary,” a representative with No. 10 Downing Street said in a statement. “The PM is receiving excellent care, and thanks all NHS staff for their hard work and dedication.”
Johnson, who said he “shook hands with everybody” at a hospital treating patients with COVID-19, received an oxygen treatment, and required ventilation, according to ITV political editor Robert Peston.
“(Johnson) has been moved to intensive care in case he needs to be on a ventilator,” tweeted Peston on Monday. “As for @DominicRaab, he won’t be called temporary PM, but that is what he will be, to all intents and purposes.”
The prime minister has had oxygen support today. He has been moved to intensive care in case he needs to be on a ventilator. As for @DominicRaab, he won’t be called temporary PM, but that is what he will be, to all intents and purposes.
— Robert Peston (@Peston) April 6, 2020
Raab is a close ally of Johnson and was part of the 2016 “leave campaign,” which helped usher in a new era of euroskepticism in the U.K. He was promoted to the British cabinet in 2018 before resigning months later over former Prime Minister Theresa May’s failure to deliver on Brexit.
“I cannot reconcile the terms of the proposed deal with the promises we made to the country in our manifesto at the last election,” Raab wrote to May.
Late Monday, Raab backed Johnson’s recovery and said he was working on delivering the prime minister’s plans “as soon as possible.”
Dominic Raab says ‘there is an incredibly strong team spirit behind the Prime Minister and making sure that we get all the plans he has instructed us deliver to get them implemented as soon as possible + that’s the way we’ll bring the whole country thro the coronavirus challenge’
— Laura Kuenssberg (@bbclaurak) April 6, 2020
Speaking with reporters, Raab said, “The government’s business will continue.”
He added, “The prime minister is in safe hands … and the focus of the government will continue to be on making sure that the Prime Minister’s direction, all the plans for making sure that we can defeat coronavirus and can pull the country through this challenge, will be taken forward.”
