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The drama surrounding Boris Johnson’s advisers in Downing Street is not so much an episode from The West Wing as from The Tudors, with the king’s consort plotting against her favorite. But the war over Johnson’s ear that saw his communications director Lee Cain resign Wednesday night is at its core a fight for the government’s political direction.
The role of Johnson’s fiancee Carrie Symonds adds flavor to the story of Cain’s downfall after several years as the prime minister’s most loyal and effective aide. But Symonds, the former Conservative Party communications director, is a consummate political operator with a deep network of allies in the party and in the right-wing press.
Cain’s troubles began when he came up with the idea of hosting White House-style televised daily press conferences to replace one of the two daily off-camera briefings for reporters in the Westminster lobby. The head of such a daily briefing would be the face of the government and one of the most important political figures in the country.
Johnson cast former Guardian and ITV News journalist Allegra Stratton for the role, who has helped polish the image of Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak and make him the most popular member of the government. Cain opposed the appointment and tried to prevent Stratton from having direct access to the prime minister.
Johnson sought to defuse the dispute by offering Cain the role of chief of staff, a move backed by chief adviser Dominic Cummings to ensure his Vote Leave team would remain in control of the Downing Street operation.
Reports that Cain was about to get the job sparked a furious backlash from Tory MPs who resent the dominance of Cummings and his allies. Symonds also opposed the appointment, favoring a change in the combative style employed by Cain, who aggressively reported against ministers and parliamentarians and imposed boycotts on media organizations he deemed hostile. Johnson apparently later canceled the offer.
Growing speculation
Now that Johnson has apparently challenged Cummings for two appointments, Stratton’s and Cain’s, speculation has grown about the senior adviser’s future. Cummings and his Vote Leave team are loyal to each other and to their shared project more than to Johnson, the government, or the Conservative Party.
With about a week to begin talks on a post-Brexit trade deal with the EU, Cummings and Brexit adviser Oliver Lewis were reported to have threatened to resign. There were even reports that Britain’s top negotiator in the EU talks, David Frost, was about to step down out of loyalty to Cain, although Downing Street was quick to deny this.
Cummings remains in his position for now, but his grip on the Downing Street operation is weakening and a new faction surrounding Johnson will alienate him from the national populism of the Vote Leave campaign.
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