Johnson’s taking back control of lockdown – and his party

He is about to make two of the biggest decisions of his premiership: how England comes out of lockdown on Dec 2 and if a Brexit deal is there to be done. Stuck in self-isolation until Thursday and with his top team thrown into disarray by Dominic Cummings’s departure, never in Boris Johnson’s political career has he faced such adversity.

Yet it seems the Prime Minister is embracing the Churchillian spirit of never letting a good crisis go to waste as he approaches a pivotal week with a new-found gusto – one observation from his Zoom call with Northern MPS on Monday was that he appeared “better briefed than I’ve ever seen him”.

During an unexpected conversation by Wakefield’s tenacious MP Imran Ahmad Khan about local transport links, the PM’S “grasp of the detail” was noted by those on the conference call with the Tory Northern Research Group. Michael Gove has long prided himself on being the Government’s “details man” but it seems the man who beat him to No 10 is seeking to “take back control” not only of his own brief but also the Cabinet Office’s stranglehold over Downing Street decision-making following Mr Cummings’s exit alongside Lee Cain, the director of communications.

Captain Johnson may have lost his First Mate, but his decision to call on “Steady” Eddie Lister, aka Lord Udny-lister, to steer the ship into calmer waters as interim chief of staff appears to have heralded a reset of the top team and the internal mechanics of government. The appointment to a position he held as Mr Johnson’s right-hand man at City Hall has been met with relief by backbenchers who believe Lord Udny-lister is a much better conduit for PM and party than the former Vote Leave boss, who made no secret of his contempt for them.

He was well received during his own conference call on Tuesday when he reassured the 2019 intake of 109 MPS there would be no more embarrassing about-turns and promised to “unleash” the PM on the former Red Wall as soon as he was out of self-isolation. Newly elected Tories, many of whom won their seats on the back of the promise to get Brexit done, had long resented what they perceived as the PM “being held back” since their constituencies went blue a year ago. But along with Ben Gascoigne, Mr Johnson’s affable private secretary, and Nikki da Costa, Downing Street’s director of legislative affairs, Lord Lister-udny has been trying to repair the party management problem that has plagued Mr Johnson’s administration throughout the pandemic. Insiders describe the trio as “building bridges” to ensure “engagement with MPS remains a core part of our central focus”.

Mr Johnson has also made it his mission to better understand No 10’s internal mechanisms amid concerns that too much power had been ceded to the Cabinet Office, run by Mr Gove, arguably the adviser’s closest political ally. It was Dominic Cummings’s idea to centralise key decision makers at the Cabinet Office adjacent to Downing Street, but it seems the power base is now switching back to No 10.

Another source suggested that Mr Johnson “was determined not to have a vacuum”. As well as immediately appointing Lord Lister-udny, he also reinforced the seniority of Munira Murza, his long-standing policy chief, who is said to be working “hand in glove” with the Treasury ahead of Wednesday’s Comprehensive Spending Review.

The source said: “That was something Dom was doing with her, but what we are seeing is other members of the senior team taking on responsibilities that were previously done by Dom and Lee, and they will serve the PM in a different way. With different personnel comes a change in tone and approach.”

The Government’s three-pronged agenda is to fight Covid-19, level up, and protect jobs, but there is a hope that “now the grown-ups are in charge”, we may witness a pivot in the PM’S approach to lockdown.

Mr Cummings and Mr Gove had been keen to follow the science but Mr Johnson now appears to be sharing some of the scepticism of Tory backbenchers.

As well as expressing concerns about repeated infringement on people’s civil liberties, he shares Mr Sunak’s gripe that lockdown decisions are being made on the basis of hitherto unchallenged “dodgy” data.

“Everyone picks data to suit their narrative,” said one Treasury source. “I think there’s a greater sense that we need to look at everything in the round, not just the latest Covid stats.”

Mr Johnson walked out of the Commons when Theresa May made a speech suggesting “the figures are chosen to support the policy rather than the policy being based on the figures”.

Now, without Mr Cummings, it seems Mr Johnson is finally starting to listen to the dissenting voices.