Not that long ago, a number of thoughtful Tory friends of mine thought that Dominic Raab might make a good leader of the Party. He had Thatcherite views, while other senior figures did not appear to share his intellectual self-confidence. He was tough-minded: nothing wrong with that.
But there were two related problems: policy and people. Although he might have sounded effective, what did Raab actually achieve during his time in various offices? He also found it hard to work with officials. When he left the Foreign Office, a lot of senior figures were delighted. We are not talking about snowflakes or weaklings: merely able people who found his abrasiveness wearisome, especially as he seemed unable to decide what British foreign policy ought to be.
