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Boris Johnson has one last chance to review a crisis-ridden dysfunctional Downing Street operation, Conservative MPs warned after bitter infighting triggered the sudden departure of one of his closest associates.
A number of conservatives said the resignation of communications director No. 10 Lee Cain, after Johnson’s fiancée and inner circle blocked his promotion to chief of staff, embodied a factionalized No. 10 cut off from secondary MPs. and lurching from crisis to crisis.
Amid fresh rumors that Dominic Cummings, Johnson’s senior adviser and another Vote Leave alumnus, may also be planning to resign, a high-ranking Conservative MP openly asked Johnson to “calm down.”
Others expressed despair over a show in which Carrie Symonds, Johnson’s fiancée and a former conservative party press adviser, joined protesters over Cain’s promotion at a time when the government is fighting the highest number of deaths from coronavirus in Europe and the looming Brexit deadline.
A parliamentarian, who asked not to be identified, said: “They are children. Ideologists and self-obsessed fools. “Another, who also spoke anonymously, said the prime minister must bear the blame for internal disputes at such a crucial time for the country. The Johnson administration has made a series of major pandemic U-turns, including nationwide lockdown measures, licensing support, test scores, and free school meals.
“The opinion of many colleagues today is that we are witnessing the end of hope in Boris as a second-term prime minister,” they said. “He has left a void in the center of government and that is being filled by Cummings, who does not like the Conservative Party, and his fiancee, who lives above the store. It’s like the script of a bad soap opera. “
Official figures showed a record 33,470 daily coronavirus cases in the UK on Thursday. At a press conference in Downing Street, NHS England Medical Director Stephen Powis said the number of patients hospitalized for Covid-19 had more than tripled in a month to more than 12,700.
Appearing with him in Downing Street, Business Secretary Alok Sharma insisted that the internal battles had not distracted ministers. “I can tell you that all of us in government are focused on one thing, which is protecting lives and protecting livelihoods,” he said.
But a high-level supporter, Sir Roger Gale, said Downing Street should “focus all its efforts on the pandemic and the end of Brexit,” and called for Cummings to be ousted in favor of a proper chief of staff.
“Frankly, this is a distraction that cannot and should not be allowed, and the prime minister has to control it,” he said. “For my money, Cummings is a drag and what the prime minister needs and deserves is a first-class chief of staff who is a serious heavyweight. I think the expression currently used is big boy pants. “
Tobias Ellwood, chairman of the select defense committee, told The Guardian that Downing Street was “behind schedule in a broader reorganization” and struggling to be at the top of the broader political agenda.
Johnson was “facing an unprecedented series of challenges, the scale of which we have not seen since the war,” including Covid, Brexit and an economic recession, Ellwood said.
“With the new president of the United States focusing on restoring Western resolve and addressing climate change, we should also seek to play a more active role on the global stage,” Ellwood said. “The machinery of government must adapt, otherwise it will be overwhelmed.”
Downing Street declined to comment on reports that Cummings had threatened to resign in anger at the way his close ally Cain is perceived to have been ousted, or that Johnson is still aiming to appoint a new chief of staff to control the situation. No 10 operation.
He confirmed that James Slack, currently Johnson’s chief spokesperson, would take over from Cain. Unlike Cain, he will remain a public official rather than a political appointee.
A strongly pro-Brexit MP said he expected the changes to mark a “restart” but warned that time was running out for Johnson to stabilize the Downing Street ship.
“I am not driven by any animosity towards Dominic Cummings. I think it is an operation that is failing, ”said the deputy. “You don’t put the guru in charge of management. If you discount all of these ideas, it’s for others to see if they really work. We need a chief of staff who takes care of talking to people.
“This is really important. If this reboot doesn’t work and we have a bad series of elections in May, it will just get worse. “
Another was more forceful: “There is a cabinet revolt against Dom’s reign of terror. Reducing the power of the Vote Leave gang is desirable and hopefully a turning point.”
A source close to a cabinet minister said: “The problem with Downing Street is that they have been in campaign mode since they won the election. They are at war with everyone in Whitehall and that is because of Cummings.
“They just don’t seem to know how to rule. Eleven months later, they should be leading a united front, but they are still working on the Vote Leave image. “
A number of MPs said they had virtually no contact with Cain or Cummings, but were desperate because of the government’s messages and lack of liaison with MPs.
“It ends all these flawed bills, requiring endless U-turns, and MPs don’t feel heard or appreciated,” said one. “We didn’t come to this job to be a glorified choir.”
Carrie Symonds and Dominic Cummings: two players in the fight for power No. 10
One is the prime minister’s top adviser, the other his fiancee. But Dominic Cummings and Carrie Symonds represent opposite ends of the power struggle raging at the heart of No. 10, which led to communications director Lee Cain in the extraordinary resignation Wednesday night. But what do we know about the couple and their lives to date?
Carrie Symonds
Years 32
Education Symonds, the daughter of one of the founders of the Independent newspaper, attended Godolphin and Latymer, a private day school in Hammersmith, west London. He earned a first-class degree in theater studies and art history at the University of Warwick, according to his LinkedIn page.
job In late 2010, she became campaign and marketing director for then-Conservative Richmond Park MP Zac Goldsmith, who is now a peer and serves in Boris Johnson’s government as minister for the Pacific and the environment.
In 2012, Symonds worked on Johnson’s successful mayoral re-election campaign, before working for the Conservative party, first as a political press adviser and then as a broadcast chief. Starting in 2015, she served as a special advisor to then-secretary of culture, John Whittingdale, before assuming the same role with Sajid Javid, then secretary of state for communities and local government. In the summer of 2017, she became communications director for the Conservative Party, a position she left in late 2018. She has earned a reputation as an environmental activist.
Relationship with Boris Johnson They became the first single couple to occupy Downing Street when they moved in after Johnson’s election victory in 2019. In February, Symonds announced their engagement on Instagram and that they were expecting a baby. Their son, Wilfred, was born in April, shortly after Johnson beat Covid-19.
Dominic cummings
Years 48
Education Hailing from the Northeast, he is the son of an oil rig project manager and special needs teacher. Cummings attended a state elementary school, followed by Durham School, an independent boarding school, and a day school. He earned a first-class degree in ancient and modern history from Exeter College, Oxford.
job A long-time eurosceptic, Cummings came to the fore advising Michael Gove, first in opposition and then in government from 2007 to 2013. As director of the Vote Leave campaign, Cummings helped plan victory in the Brexit referendum in 2016. When Johnson became prime minister, he brought Cummings to No. 10 as his top adviser.
Relationship with Johnson The prime minister forged his association with Cummings during the Brexit referendum campaign and has been fiercely loyal to his top adviser. Johnson used significant political capital to resist calls to fire Cummings after The Guardian exposed his infamous 260-mile drive to Durham at the height of the Covid-19 lockdown.
Simon Murphy, political correspondent
News of Cain’s departure, due to take place at the end of the year, came in a statement sent from Downing Street late Wednesday. It comes after it is understood that Johnson offered him the position of chief of staff last week, prompting a significant setback within No. 10, with Symonds heavily involved, as well as Munira Mirza, head of policy unit No. 10. .
The infighting has been provoked in part by the arrival in Downing Street of Allegra Stratton, a former journalist and adviser to Rishi Sunak, the chancellor. Stratton will be the face of the daily televised briefings for the Downing Street media. Cain had come up with the idea, but is known to have objected to Stratton getting the job. He had also clashed with Symonds before.
Keir Starmer described the scenes as “pathetic.” The Labor leader told LBC radio: “I think millions of people will wake up this morning scratching their heads, saying, ‘What the heck is going on?’ We are in the middle of a pandemic, we are all concerned about our health and our families, we are all concerned about our jobs, and this group is fighting behind the door of number 10. “
