Dominic Raab, Gavin Williamson: Why are there so many bullying allegations in the Conservative Party?

There is strong empirical evidence to suggest that an adult bully may have psychopathological tendencies such as narcissism and Machiavellianism

Another week, another allegation of bullying in the Tory party: and this time it’s justice secretary Dominic Raab’s turn to face accusations of bad behaviour.

Raab, who is also the deputy prime minister, has been accused of losing his temper and throwing food around the office, according to The Observer. Concerns over Raab’s behaviour towards officials were reportedly raised inside Whitehall during his time as Brexit secretary in 2018, with allegations of “unprofessional, even bullying, conduct of the minister towards his private office”.

Dave Penman, chair of the FDA trade union, has today claimed that civil servants have reported multiple members of the front bench and that such behaviour was a “constant”.

It comes just a week after Gavin Williamson was forced to resign from cabinet over claims he told one official to “slit your throat”.

A Ministry of Defence official alleged that the cabinet minister conducted a sustained campaign of intimidation while he was defence secretary between 2017 and 2019, culminating in the shocking and explosive remarks. Williamson was also accused of telling the same senior civil servant to “jump out of the window”.

The Guardian reported that the unnamed aide had worked closely with Williamson (until he was sacked following a leak from the national security council) and felt he was “deliberately demeaned and intimidated” on a regular basis. Williamson was also said to have “shouted and raged”, but has denied bullying; claiming he had “good working relationships” with his officials.

What’s going on within the Tory party? Allegations of bullying are far from uncommon – just look at Priti Patel. In March last year, the former home secretary settled a claim (rumoured to be in the realm of six figures) after being accused of mounting a “vicious and orchestrated” campaign against former Home Office permanent secretary Sir Philip Rutnam.

Rutnam, who quit in February 2020, said Patel was advised a month after her arrival in 2019 that she must not shout and swear at civil servants, and was also told on a number of occasions over the next six months that she must treat them with respect and “make changes to protect health, safety and welfare”. She was accused of creating an “atmosphere of fear” at the Home Office; including belittling officials, taking an angry and aggressive tone in meetings and making unreasonable demands of civil servants.

After an inquiry found she had indeed bullied members of staff, Patel said she was “sorry that my behaviour in the past has upset people”, but insisted it had not been her intention to do so. Sound familiar?

Just last week, I wrote of the dangerous rhetoric used by the new home secretary Suella Braverman, who described desperate migrants making the perilous journey across the Channel as an “invasion” on our south coast. Words matter. If our senior government ministers are using violent language on the regular, it wouldn’t be a step too far to assume there is something very, very rotten at the heart of the Conservative Party.

With allegations of bullying having been made regarding senior government figures, it’s worth us now looking at the psychology of a bully – and what it could mean to have these kinds of people in charge; making important decisions that dramatically impact on people’s lives.

According to academic research, bullies have a distinct psychological make-up which includes lacking pro-social behaviours. These behaviours are ones through which people benefit others (Eisenberg, 1982). What does that mean? Well, helping, comforting, sharing, cooperating – even donating; all traits, in other words, you’d very much hope our politicians had in abundance when they’re, say, dealing with the climate crisis at Cop27; the cost of living crisis; or working out how to prop up our beleaguered NHS or school or social care systems.

Not so, according to the data: for these kinds of people usually lack anxiety and (crucially) empathy. Put simply: they do not understand others’ feelings. And it can be even worse – sometimes they simply don’t care.

That’s because bullies see the world differently to the rest of us: they have a sort of negative cognitive bias, which leads to them misreading others’ motives and intentions. If you yourself feel hostile, chances are you’ll see the world as hostile, too.

Yet what’s particularly fascinating to me is that bullies tend to see themselves positively. They have probably always experienced conflict and have had longstanding “difficult” relationships with family members, authority figures and friends; but in their own minds they’re golden – even special. It could, therefore, explain why they might have the single-minded determination, ruthlessness and self-aggrandisement to push themselves through to positions of power.

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What’s more, studies into adult bully syndrome also tell us that the unpleasant, nasty person in your life is likely to have been that way for a long time. That’s because, scientists say, bullying tendencies usually act on a continuum; meaning that antisocial behaviours which begin in childhood usually continue on into adolescence – and beyond. But recent research has also focused on the peculiar psychological characteristics of adult bullies. And here’s where it gets interesting.

“There is strong empirical evidence that suggests that an adult bully may have psychopathological tendencies such as narcissism and Machiavellianism (which is the view that any tactic, however unscrupulous, can justifiably be used in achieving political power)” one paper reports, “with a propensity for exhibiting abusive, controlling, callous, manipulative, domineering, ruthless, and self-centered behaviors”.

When you have a party that doesn’t seem to care about those suffering beneath the weight of hardline immigration policies; about asylum seekers, or about those who will suffer most in the months ahead as the cost of living crisis beds in, it doesn’t seem all that shocking when you hear claims of the way those at the top are said to be treating each other. Does it? Suddenly, it all makes an awful lot of sense.