‘Chief of staff Nikki’ to end power battle
BACKROOM official Nikki da Costa is the compromise candidate set to fill the No10 vacuum left by Dominic Cummings.
She is tipped to be Boris Johnson’s new chief of staff, making her the second most powerful person in the land.
And her appointment would end a bitter power struggle as bloody as TV’s Game of Thrones between the PM’s fianceé Carrie Symonds and his Australian election guru Sir Lynton Crosby.
One insider said: “Not for nothing is Carrie known as Cersei. She is every bit as scheming as the Queen of the Seven Kingdoms.
“But she’s also a seasoned political adviser in her own right. And she sees this as an opportunity to rebrand Boris as more user friendly.”
Carrie would have liked her old boss and ex-Chancellor Sajid Javid in the chief of staff role.
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But Crosby wanted master political fixer David Canzini.
And Cabinet Office boss Michael Gove was angling for his special adviser Henry Newman.
But after so much infighting, Johnson is after someone acceptable to all sides. Da Costa – Director of Legislative Affairs and recently back from maternity leave – is expected to take up the post in the New Year.
A Tory source close to her said: “The PM needs someone who can do the job, calm the s**t, isn’t factional and is in lockstep with him. That person needs to be Brexit but not Vote Leave, across the detail but without strong opinions, with no agenda except the PM’s agenda. That is Nikki.”
A friend said: “She understands how Parliament works, which Cummings didn’t. And unlike Cummings, Nikki is able to get along with everyone.”
An insider added: “Ministers weren’t allowed to breathe without checking with Cummings first. Nikki will empower them.”