How will King Boris rebuild his court?

IT IS all change among Boris Johnson’s team of advisers at 10 Downing Street, with the departures of Dominic Cummings and Lee Cain.

Mr Johnson famously wanted to be “world king” when he was young, but what he has always been less certain of is who he wanted around him in the court of “King Boris”.

As he sits in his No 10 study this weekend, he has an opportunity to assemble a team which will take forward and define his goals as Prime Minister.

At the top of his in-tray is finding a new chief of staff who can assume a behind-the-scenes role at No 10 and ensure the PM’S wishes are carried out.

One former Tory PR adviser made clear the importance of the role: “A chief of staff is not a campaigner, not a young spad. A chief of staff fundamentally runs the machinery of government.” Another said: “The Prime Minister needs someone who does not have their own priorities, who wants to deliver the Prime Minister’s priorities.”

Yesterday, Mr Johnson asked Lord Udny-lister, his chief strategic adviser, to be his new “interim chief of staff ”.

But who to choose for the job permanently? City Hall veteran Lord UdnyLister is 71 years old, and had been planning to leave No 10 in January.

Mr Johnson is being urged by MPS to draw from the old guard of ex-cabinet ministers who will have the authority to bash heads together in Downing Street.

Top of the list is Sajid Javid, who quit as Mr Johnson’s chancellor in February when he refused to agree to sharing an adviser team with No 10. The Daily Telegraph understands that Mr Javid offered to be Mr Johnson’s chief of staff during the summer. While it would be unprecedented for a sitting MP to take on the role, MPS believe that Mr Javid has the right top level skills and can help communicate the PM’S plans to increasingly fractious backbenchers.

One source said Mr Javid would fit the bill for the role as “someone who commands the respect of the Cabinet, who has been around government”.

Mr Javid was heavily involved in the development of the party’s landslidewinning manifesto last December, and would be able to sell tax rises to the party’s base to pay for the response to the pandemic. He is also close to Carrie Symonds, Mr Johnson’s fiancée, who worked for him for several months as a special adviser when Mr Javid was housing secretary from 2016 to 2018. Ms Symonds, a former head of communications at the Conservative Party, is seen as having an increasing role in decision making at No 10 after she reportedly helped to block Mr Cain’s move to chief of staff. Last night, one senior MP spoke out against the prospect of Mr Javid as new chief of staff saying: “Saj is not the answer. What we need more of is the Prime Minister’s agenda, and the promises he made to the British people, not yet another person with an agenda of their own.”

Another chief of staff option is Nikki da Costa, the No 10 director of legislative affairs, who advised Mr Johnson during the row over the suspension of parliament last year. A source said: “She’s a Brexiteer but not Vote Leave, of the party but not factional and divisive, is trusted and respected by all wings of the party and across Whitehall, and has experience of a world outside politics.”

A Cabinet minister said Miss Da Costa would be someone who “gets everyone focused on delivering for him and the country, rather than creating problems”, adding that she “empowers rather than kneecaps ministers and let’s them get on with the job”.

Insiders tip Henry Cook for the chief of staff role. One source said: “He is political, but does not play politics. He would take the heat out of the role right now. He is not going to stop the PM from seeing people.”

There are other names in the frame: Matthew Elliott, the former Vote Leave chief executive, who ran Mr Javid’s leadership campaign, knows Mr Johnson from the Brexit campaign. Others tipped include David Canzini and Mark Fulbrook, both steeped in the party, who know Mr Johnson well and who would provide a link to the party.

Mr Johnson’s other option would be to lean more on his civil servants in No 10, notably Simon Case, whom he appointed Cabinet secretary in September, and James Slack, his official spokesman, who will replace Mr Cain as director of communications.

At the back of Mr Johnson’s mind will be the forthcoming Cabinet reshuffle which he is understood to be planning for February. A source close to Mr Johnson said Michael Gove would be perfect for the Department of Health to refresh the team and prepare for a likely third wave of coronavirus next winter. Matt Hancock, the Health Secretary, could then move to the Department for Education, replacing Gavin Williamson.

One MP said: “Whether you like him or loathe him, Michael Gove is bloody good. That department will need a complete refresh.”

‘The Prime Minister needs someone who does not have their own priorities, who wants to deliver the Prime Minister’s priorities’

Former Johnson allies tipped for a return include Conor Burns, his former Parliamentary Private Secretary, and Jake Berry, who quit as Northern Powerhouse minister earlier this year. Mr Berry’s promotion would meet the need for Mr Johnson to provide a link to Tory MPS who won red wall seats at the general election and have been increasingly voluble on the backbenches.

Other “Boris-ites” who could be promoted to Cabinet include James Cleverly and Nigel Adams, who currently both are ministers in the Foreign Office.

A return for Jeremy Hunt, who fought him for the l eadership, is unlikely, with Johnson allies suspecting – without evidence – that he is “on manoeuvres” against the PM over his handling of the pandemic.

Last night the field widened with Kit Malthouse, a Home Office minister who worked with Mr Johnson in City Hall, reportedly putting his name forward to MPS for the role. Others said Will Walden, Mr Johnson’s ex-pr chief at City Hall, could be approached as well as Tory peer Lord True.

Mr Johnson needs a strong cohesive team rooting for him because the political pressure will not abate next year, with or without a Brexit trade deal, to the deadening drumbeat of coronavirus. Tax rises are expected in March’s Budget when Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor, is expected to start to try to find ways to meet the Government’s £200 billion bill for dealing with the pandemic.

And waiting in the wings is Nigel Farage’s new political party Reform UK, which is set to stand thousands of candidates at local elections in England, Scotland and Wales in May. Mr Farage’s low-tax, anti-lockdown message is designed to peel away disgruntled Tory voters.

Mr Johnson will als o want to strengthen his team of Scottish advisers in Downing Street in anticipation of a strong result in the Scottish parliament elections. Scottish Tories are unhappy that Mr Johnson’s Scotland special adviser, former MP Luke Graham, does not have enough influence in 10 Downing Street, and could be strengthened with the addition of veterans of the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, Ramsay Jones and Lord Dunlop.

Mr Johnson adopted a title – “Minister for the Union” – when he became PM, but is said to need more help pushing the “four nations, one United Kingdom” message. One senior Scottish Tory told The Daily Telegraph: “The problem is the adviser [Mr Graham] does not have the ear of the Prime Minister. We need someone with 100 per cent access that goes straight to the PM.

“This refocus just has to get the basics right – ‘union-proofing’ everything that comes out of No 10 and No 11. They have failed to do that over the past eight months of the pandemic.”

Mr Johnson will be hoping that by the summer he will be able to focus on pushing Britain as a newly independent global player, with the UK taking the lead on tackling climate change at the meeting of the G7 group of industrialised nations in June and the United Nations’ COP conference in November.

These two global summits offer an opportunity for a post-brexit Britain to excel, as an outwardly-facing, internationalist country. The question is whether Mr Johnson can find the team to deliver it.