Cummings exits No 10 with parting shot at PM
Chief aide accuses Johnson of ‘dithering’ as he is ordered out of Downing Street
DOMINIC CUMMINGS was ordered out of Downing Street for good last night after being accused of briefing against the Prime Minister.
Mr Cummings, who was regarded as Boris Johnson’s most trusted adviser, left with a broadside against his boss, telling allies that Mr Johnson was “indecisive” and that he and Lee Cain had to rely on Michael Gove, the Cabinet Office minister, to provide direction.
The former Vote Leave chief cleared his desk after a lunchtime meeting and left No 10 for the last time carrying his possessions in a cardboard box.
Mr Cain, the Prime Minister’s director of communications, was also asked to leave in the same meeting.
Both men had intended to stay in No 10 until the end of the year to see out the Brexit project that had brought them and Mr Johnson together.
But the last straw came after Mr Johnson heard claims that the faction headed by Mr Cummings and Mr Cain was briefing against him and his fiancée, Carrie Symonds. The pair will remain employed until mid-december, with Mr Cummings expected to complete some work on mass testing, but neither is expected to set foot in No 10 again.
It came after a fortnight of highly damaging leaks and poisonous briefings that have culminated in a Cabinet Office inquiry into who passed on secrets of discussions about the second coronavirus lockdown to the media.
After Mr Cummings resigned on Thursday evening, allies had complained of “dithering” by the Prime Minister, saying they had to go round him to Mr Gove to get decisions made. They are also known to have spread rumours that Mr Johnson had lost his powers of concentration, after being hospitalised with coronavirus earlier in the year, and that Ms Symonds “bombards” him with texts up to 25 times per hour setting out her opinions on policy.
Sources said Mr Johnson was particularly riled by newspaper reports of Ms Symonds being referred to by Cummings loyalists by nicknames including “Princess nut nuts”.
Sources loyal to the Prime Minister accused Mr Cummings of “trying to blame everyone but himself ” for his demise, saying that his complaints of dithering by the Prime Minister were simply “the occasions when the PM won’t do what he wants him to”.
One source said: “The truth is that Dom will pay no attention to something for months, then he will get interested in it and expect it to happen in two or three days. That’s not how government works. When he says Boris is indecisive what he actually means is that Boris won’t do something he wants. That’s not the same thing.”
Mr Cummings last night described the claims that the Prime Minister had accused him of briefing against him as “invention”, adding: “We had a laugh together.” Mr Cain described the meeting as “warm” and said Mr Johnson had said it would be better for “morale” if there was a clean break.
Mr Cummings had formally resigned on Thursday, a day after his closest ally Mr Cain had also handed in his notice. It came after Ms Symonds and Allegra Stratton, Mr Johnson’s press secretary, vetoed the promotion of Mr Cain to chief of staff. The departure of the Prime Minister’s two most long-standing aides marks not only the rancorous end to a relationship forged in the Brexit
campaign five years ago, but also a new beginning for Mr Johnson’s administration. Lord Udny-lister, the Prime Mini ster’s chief strategic adviser, was yesterday installed as interim chief of staff while Mr Johnson searches for a permanent incumbent for a job that was originally offered to Mr Cain.
Whoever becomes Mr Johnson’s permanent right-hand man or woman will play a major role in shaping government between now and the next general election, while Ms Stratton wants a “reset” of Downing Street’s relationship with the public and the media.
Ms Stratton, who emerged as the winner in a power struggle with Mr Cain, is determined to soften the image of the Government and supports Ms Symonds’s determination to push the green agenda alongside the core aim of “levelling up” the country.
Mr Johnson’s decision to keep Mr Cummings and Mr Cain employed until mid-december means he will still exert some measure of control over them while the Brexit trade talks play out.
There had been fears among some of the Prime Minister’s supporters that former Vote Leave staff could attack the Government from the sidelines if a Brexit trade deal was signed that they did not agree with. It is also likely to mean the Cabinet Office will retain access to both men if they want to take evidence for the leak inquiry.
Mr Cain is understood to have been cleared of blame for the leaking of the Government’s lockdown plan, but the inquiry continues.
Although both men are expected to do some work from home in their final weeks of employment by No10, one source said: “We don’t expect to see them back in the building.”
Yesterday Downing Street hit back at suggestions the Prime Minister’s Brexit stance would soften in the final days of trade negotiations as a result of Mr Cummings and Mr Cain leaving.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “Absolutely not. The Government’s position in relation to the future trade agreement has not changed.
“We want to reach a deal but it has to be one that fully respects the sovereignty of the United Kingdom.”
The spokesman added: “Time is in very short supply. We are clear the transition period will end on Dec 31, there’s no doubt about it.
“We would like to get a deal. If we’re not able to reach a free trade agreement then we will leave on Australian-style terms.”