The man stepping into David Davis’s shoes as Brexit Secretary is a black belt in karate.
Dominic Raab was a prominent Leave campaigner, often serving as the warm-up act for Michael Gove’s set piece speeches during the EU referendum.
Mr Raab was fired by Mrs May in her first reshuffle, despite him being regularly tipped for promotion. But a year later she brought him back to the same department, Justice.
Tipped for a Cabinet promotion, there was surprise when the 44-year-old father-of-two was offered a sideways to become Minister of Housing in January.
For two years previously he was at the Ministry of Justice as a minister and was regularly sent out by Number 10 to front difficult media interviews during the 2017 snap election, even on subjects outside his brief.
He studied at Oxford and Cambridge and went to work for the Foreign Office specialising in Arab-Israeli relations.
He then had a spell as Mr Davis’ chief-of-staff when the Tories were in opposition in the mid-2000s.
In 2010 he was elected MP for Esher and Walton. He is author of several books on civil liberties.
