Cripes! It’s Carrie Cummings
PM’s partner and chief adviser ‘at war over Cabinet reshuffle’
ExPloSivE claims of a falling- out between Boris Johnson’s partner Carrie Symonds and his chief adviser Dominic Cummings over the Cabinet reshuffle emerged last night.
Well- placed Treasury sources say Miss Symonds is backing ministers who say Mr Cummings’ aggressive approach towards ministers, officials and journalists is damaging the Prime Minister.
The rift has been fuelled by reports that Mr Cummings urged Mr Johnson to fire two ministers with close links to Miss Symonds: Chancellor Sajid Javid and Defence Secretary Ben Wallace.
it is understood Mr Johnson has refused to sack Mr Javid in the reshuffle expected this week, but the fate of Mr Wallace is less clear.
in addition, Mr Cummings is believed to be planning to fire several Conservative ministerial special advisers, including some with connections to Miss Symonds. insiders fear Mr Johnson is in
‘He doesn’t care who he insults’
danger of being caught in the middle of a damaging power struggle between the two most powerful members of his No 10 kitchen Cabinet of key advisers.
Miss Symonds and Mr Cummings both have their own prominent Cabinet allies and political hobby horses – fortified by strong personalities. Miss Symonds joined the Tory Party as a press officer ten years ago, was promoted to director of communications in 2017, and worked for senior Tories John Whittingdale and Zac Goldsmith as well as Mr Javid.
She is a skilled networker and environmental campaigner. And her views on animal welfare and the early release of violent criminals influenced Mr Johnson’s stance on the issues.
Mr Cummings pioneered radical school reforms as special adviser to Michael Gove when he was Education Secretary. He is hailed by Brexiteers as a campaigning genius for the way he ran the vote leave campaign in the 2016 referendum and last year he was portrayed by Benedict Cumberbatch in a Channel 4 film, Brexit: The Uncivil War.
At a Downing Street party to mark Brexit night on January 31, Mr Johnson showered praise on Mr Cummings for devising the ‘Get Brexit Done’ slogan, which helped the PM win a landslide General Election victory.
But Mr Cummings has come under fire for declaring war on the mainstream media since the election. He sparked a revolt by Westminster lobby journalists when he banned reporters from organisations seen as hostile to the Government from a Number 10 briefing.
He is said to be behind a sustained Government campaign to cut the BBC down to size including refusing to give programmes such as Radio 4’s Today show ministers to interview on the grounds that it is biased against the Tories.
A Treasury source said: ‘There was always a risk that Carrie and Dom were going to fall out and that the PM would get caught in the crossfire.
‘Dom is trying to run the Government the same way he won the referendum campaign. He doesn’t care who he insults if it makes the Government more effective. Carrie is just as determined and is very loyal to her friends.’
Mr Cummings and Miss Symonds both have a reputation for getting their own way: where Mr Cummings relies on intellect and aggression and confrontation, Miss Symonds deploys charm and guile.
For all his charisma and campaigning skills, Mr Johnson has a reputation for avoiding personal confrontation, though recently there have been signs that he is prepared to stand up to Mr Cummings. He seems certain to ignore his campaign to scrap the HS2 rail link.
Mr Cummings has also banned ministers’ special advisers from having lunch with journalists on the grounds that they leak stories. This is another cause of tension between Mr Cummings and Miss Symonds, both of whom have close links with selected senior journalists.
A Downing Street source denied there was any disagreement between Miss Symonds and Mr Cummings.