With premier ailing, Britain faces a leadership quandary
LONDON — The British government hurtled into uncharted territory Tuesday, with its foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, taking up the daytoday duties of Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who was being treated in an intensive care unit as he battled a worsening case of the coronavirus.
Britain, with no written constitution, does not have a codified order of succession. That legal lacuna has prompted questions during prior episodes where prime ministers fell ill or underwent surgery, and now looms large at a time when Britain faces its greatest crisis since World War II.
Raab, 46, as first secretary of state, would become the government’s de facto leader of government if the prime minister cannot carry out his duties. He was “deputized” by Johnson on Monday, chaired Cabinet meetings about the pandemic on Monday and Tuesday, and will probably take on additional duties, with Johnson’s prognosis so uncertain.
The government said Johnson, who has suffered symptoms of the virus for 11 days, was moved into intensive care Monday evening after his condition deteriorated sharply. He has received “standard oxygen treatment” but is breathing on his own and has not been put on a ventilator, officials said Tuesday. Nor has he been diagnosed with pneumonia, they said.
How the government will function if the prime minister is out for a prolonged period, or dies, is not yet clear.
“If he is incapacitated for quite a long time, then you’re in totally different circumstances,” said Jonathan Powell, who was chief of staff to Prime Minister Tony Blair. “In the middle of a crisis like this, in the modern world, it is quite impossible to function without a prime minister.”
The government will face momentous decisions, including when and how to lift the lockdown on Britain. Johnson, 55, had been leading that process and communicated the government’s measures to the public in daily briefings, where his familiar shambling style gave way to a graver mien.
Raab, by contrast, has been a peripheral figure in the government’s response, mostly focusing on organizing evacuation flights to bring back Britons stranded overseas. He is best known for his hardline views on Brexit, which helped him get his post in Johnson’s proBrexit Cabinet.
Raab, officials said, was working from his office in the Foreign Office. He would chair meetings on national security, although in the case of a security emergency, the Cabinet would make decisions on a collective basis.
While he is trusted by the prime minister, Raab is only one of several ambitious ministers who may assert their right to step up. Michael Gove, a senior Cabinet minister and longtime rival of Johnson, was the face of the government on television Tuesday morning, although he announced that he, too, was now in isolation at home after a member of his family showed mild coronavirus symptoms.
Other ministers — like the chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi
Sunak, and the health secretary, Matt Hancock — have been leading key parts of the response and will have strong voices. Keeping discipline could be difficult, analysts said, with much of the responsibility for that falling to the Cabinet secretary, Mark Sedwill.
In one sense, Raab’s less direct involvement could be an advantage, allowing him to resolve potential disputes between economic and health officials over the easing of social distancing measures.
The son of a Czech refugee who fled the Nazis in 1938, Raab is not known for his diplomatic skills. He served as Brexit secretary under Johnson’s predecessor, Theresa May, but quit her government after clashes over her negotiations with the European Union.