Downing Street inner circle who put the prorogation plan into action
Dominic Cummings
Every move made by Downing Street is planned by Dominic Cummings, the former Vote Leave campaign chief who is Boris Johnson’s top adviser. His no-nonsense approach appalls and delights in equal measure. Mr Cummings, who worked as a special adviser under Michael Gove at the Department of Education for almost three years, has a win-at-all-costs mentality and prorogation is no doubt the first of many surprises he has planned. Sam Freedman, a former civil servant who worked alongside Mr Cummings in the education department, said: “It’s extraordinary the extent to which Cummings is actually the PM. No adviser has dominated the Downing Street agenda like this ever before.”
Geoffrey Cox
The Attorney General may be a Brexiteer, but his professional pride outweighs any political motivations – as Theresa May found out to her cost. It was the barrister who sealed the fate of her Brexit deal, when he admitted there is no way for
the UK to unilaterally leave the Irish backstop protocol. The new Downing Street regime is clearly learning from that mistake, and sought advice from Mr Cox on the legality of prorogation before the plan was made public.
Michael Gove
Despite the bad blood between him and Mr Johnson, the former environment secretary is a key member of Downing Street’s top team. The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster was one of the few people to
know about the prorogation plan, which was cooked up by Mr Cummings. The trio of Gove, Cummings and Johnson were a formidable team in the 2016 EU referendum, and it is unlikely that any of Mr Cummings’ plots will go ahead without Mr Gove’s approval.
Nikki da Costa
If Mr Cummings is Downing Street’s bad cop, Nikki da Costa fulfils the good cop role. After serving as Theresa May’s director of legislative affairs, Ms Da Costa quit in protest at her Brexit plan. After spending eight months
outside Westminster, she returned to help the new regime. An expert on parliamentary procedure, Ms Da Costa will no doubt work with Mr Cummings to craft a series of procedural snakes and ladders to ensure Brexit goes through on Oct 31.
Jacob Rees-mogg
The former head of the European Research Group of Brexiteer Conservative MPS is a stickler for tradition and convention, and is relishing his role at the centre of these constitutional manoeuvrings.
He was dispatched to Balmoral to meet the Queen to request Parliament be prorogued, underlining his importance to Mr Johnson’s regime. He said the shutdown was the “normal functioning of our constitution”. Mr Rees-mogg will be under pressure from angry Remainbacking
MPS, and an extremely perturbed John Bercow, the Commons Speaker, next time he is at the Dispatch Box, but his calm style should see him sail through any storms. His grasp of parliamentary history will no doubt be exhibited with gentle, but effective, venom.