Who is the Prime Ministers deputy with Boris Johnson in hospital? – Telegraph.co.uk

Mr Raab, who as First Secretary of State is the first in the line of succession, had already been entrusted with chairing the daily War Cabinet tasked with coordinating the UKs response to the pandemic.

In a statement released on Monday, Downing Street said that Mr Raab had been asked to deputise where necessary, suggesting that a full handover may not have taken place yet.

However, with Mr Johnson remaining conscious, it remains unclear as to whether his most significant powers, such as issues of national security, havebeen transferred to Mr Raab.

Leading the daily Downing Street press conference on Mondayafternoon, Mr Raab said that a team of ministers and Whitehall officials were working full throttle to carry out the instructions of Mr Johnson from his hospital bed at St Thomass, central London.

But when asked whether he had taken over Mr Johnsons security responsibilities, Mr Raab declined to comment.

We are getting on with all of the various strands of work to make sure at home and abroad we can defeat the virus and pull the country through coronavirus and the challenges that undoubtedly we're facing at the moment, headded.

The UKs chain of command stands in contrast to the United States, where it is set out in the constitution.

The powers and responsibilities of the US vice president are also clearly defined, whereas in the UK, the office of deputy prime minister has not been used since Nick Clegg entered into the coalition with David Cameron in 2010.

Even before the Prime Ministers admission to hospital, the confusion had already given rise to reports of infighting among Cabinet ministers, with allies of Michael Gove, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, suggesting that he was next in line.

As the coronavirus outbreak escalated, Downing Street foresaw the potential constitutional dilemma and began drawing up a designated successor plan with Mr Raab nominated as first recipient.

Rishi Sunak was thennamed as Mr Johnson's second "designated successor" amid claims that Mr Gove was overlooked due to question marks over his loyalty.

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Who is the Prime Ministers deputy with Boris Johnson in hospital? - Telegraph.co.uk