Cummings and Cain face ‘lad culture’ claim

DOMINIC CUMMINGS and Lee Cain have been accused of presiding over a “laddish” culture in Downing Street, prompting complaints from female advisers that they were picked on in meetings.

The concerns prompted Carrie Symonds, Boris Johnson’s fiancée, to lead a revolt against the Prime Minister’s plan to promote Mr Cain to chief of staff. One female insider said she believed “Lee and Dom” would pick on female special advisers in meetings. “Women were treated differently to men,” the source said. “Women were always reprimanded more and women were always accused of leaking more than men. As a woman, you knew you weren’t part of the ‘lads club’ in which many of the people in No 10 were. In meetings women would be picked on in the spad [special advisers] meetings by Dominic and Lee to answer questions they couldn’t answer, especially very young women. These were microaggressions.”

A No 10 spokesman said: “These are malicious allegations which are totally untrue.”

The Daily Telegraph has been told that so-called “Brexit Boys” inside Government under the control of Mr Cummings and Mr Cain called Ms Symonds “Princess Nut Nuts” behind her back. A source said she was labelled a “princess” for allegedly acting regally. The first “nut”, according to the source, alluded to her being “crazy” – although there is no evidence for that; while the second “nuts” reference comes from a belief among the Brexit Boys clique that she bears some facial similarity to a squirrel.

The epithet may say more about the attitude inside Downing Street, with Mr Cummings and Mr Cain, who is referred to as “Caino” among the Brexit Boys, accused of presiding over a culture whose style has seemingly been gleaned from the playbook of Malcolm Tucker, the hard man spin doctor from the BBC’S The Thick of It. Allies of Mr Cain disagree. One female special adviser said she did not recognise the macho culture claims nor the suggestion women were singled out for ill treatment. “I don’t see it like that,” said the source, pointing to the promotion of Cleo Watson, the 31-year-old head of the Prime Minister’s campaigns team who works closely with Mr Cummings and Mr Cain, and to female spads thriving in other senior, elevated positions.

Mr Johnson is reportedly planning on softening the Government’s image as he resets his premiership in the wake of Mr Cain’s departure.