Boris boots out Dom
Amid dramatic claims that he was briefing against Carrie...
CLUTCHING a cardboard box of hi s belongings, Dominic Cummings left Downing Street for good last night.
After a week of turmoil, the Prime Minister told his most senior adviser to go with immediate effect in a bid to end the toxic rows at No 10.
Lee Cain, who announced his resignation as Mr Johnson’s director of communications on Wednesday, was also sent home.
Mr Cain, a former Vote Leave campaigner and close ally of Mr Cummings, quit after the Prime Minister withdrew his offer of a promotion to chief of staff – following objections from his fiancée Carrie Symonds.
Mr Cain had been due to stay on until the New Year, when Mr Cummings was also expected to leave Downing Street. Their departure dates were dramatically brought forward yesterday.
It was claimed last night that Mr Johnson had accused the pair of briefing against Miss Symonds. In a tense 45-minute meeting he is reported to have shown them incriminating text messages which had been forwarded to his fiancée. The explosive claims were denied by No10.
It is understood that Mr Cummings and Mr Cain will be on gardening leave until mid-December. Mr Cummings may continue to work from home to tie up loose ends, but neither man is expected back at No 10. A Downing Street source said Mr Johnson ‘wanted to clear the air so the Government can move forward’.
Lord Udny-Lister – who served as a deputy to Mr Johnson when he was mayor of London – will take on the role of interim chief of staff pending a permanent appointment. Rumoured contenders for the role include Sajid Javid, who quit as chancellor in February after falling out with Mr Cummings.
The Prime Minister is set to foll ow the shake- up in Downing Street with a Cabinet reshuffle in the New Year as he attempts to relaunch his premiership. The ‘reset’ will include daily televised briefings hosted by a new press secretary, Allegra Stratton.
The appointment of Miss Stratton led to Mr Cain offering his resignation last week, amid fears he was being sidelined. Mr Johnson attempted to keep him by offering a promotion – only to withdraw it. His and Mr Cummings’ departures come as ministers and MPs call for Mr Johnson to adopt a more conciliatory approach and give them a greater say in decision-making.
Backbencher Sir Roger Gale called on the Prime Minister to ‘muck out the stable and get in the team of people he really needs and deserves behind him’.
Another MP said of Mr Johnson: ‘If he doesn’t start listening to backbenchers then he will gone too... the talk of the tearooms is already how soon will he be gone, and who will replace him.’
Members of the Cabinet have complained that they have been excluded from decisions on handling coronavirus. Some policies have been revealed to them just minutes before they were announced to the public. One senior Tory said last night: ‘Gosh, maybe we will now get to actually fulfil our roles as Cabinet ministers.’
In addition, Mr Johnson’s fiancée is said to have been privately expressing concerns for months about Mr Cummings’ treatment of younger colleagues. Miss Symonds herself was a special adviser to two ministers – including Mr Javid – before becoming the Conservative Party’s director of communications under Theresa May.
Veteran Tory MP Sir Bernard Jenkin said the end of Mr Cummings’ 16-month stint at Mr Johnson’s side in Downing Street shows ‘nobody is indispensable’.
Calling for a return of ‘respect, integrity and trust’, Sir Bernard told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘I’m not surprised in a way that it is ending in the way it is.
No minister can afford a single adviser to become a running story... crowding out the proper messages the Government wants to convey.’
Former Cabinet minister Theresa Villiers also welcomed the ‘ good opportunity for a fresh start’.
‘Clearly there are concerns about the dismissive attitude sometimes shown by Lee Cain and Dominic Cummings,’ she added. ‘This is an opportunity to... have a more collaborative approach.’
Earlier this week, amid reports that he was preparing to resign over Mr Cain’s scrapped promotion, Mr Cummings had told the BBC that ‘rumours of me threatening to quit are invented’.
However, he also stressed that his stance ‘ hasn’t changed since my January blog’ – a reference to an online article in which he said he hoped to make himself redundant by 2021 by implementing changes in Whitehall.
Downing Street insiders dismissed claims that Mr Cummings would be offered another key role – such as a part-time job advising on technology. A No10 source said: ‘Once you are gone, you are gone.’