Boris Johnson’s fiancee Carrie Symonds shows her power as two senior aides axed from Downing St
Boris Johnson’s fiancee Carrie Symonds has caused an earthquake in UK politics that led to the departure of two key figures in Downing Street.
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Boris Johnson’s fiancee Carrie Symonds has caused an earthquake in UK politics that led to the departure of two key figures in Downing Street.
The 32-year-old weighed into the debate about who the British Prime Minister should appoint as chief of staff.
A leak that she did not support the promotion of communications director Lee Cain to the role prompted him to walk.
Then Dominic Cummings, a key figure in the push for Britain to leave the European Union and one of Mr Johnson’s most trusted advisers, walked out the door of Number 10 for the last time on Friday night London time.
The exits were a seismic shift in British politics, with Ms Symonds’ intervention showing that she was prepared to use her influence to persuade Mr Johnson on political matters.
Mr Johnson had doggedly supported Mr Cummings, 48, after the adviser broke lockdown rules in March by driving five hours to his family’s home in Durham, northern England.
He iced the cake when he took a 20-minute drive to nearby Barnard Castle, a beauty spot, to “test his eyesight” before a long drive back to London after he had organised extra care for his son while his wife was sick.
Mr Johnson’s backbenchers were incensed at the protection afforded to Mr Cummings, with his rule breaking blamed for the British public losing faith in following social distancing restrictions.
They were particularly concerned that so much political capital was spent saving an unelected official, who often grabbed headlines of his own, while backbenchers struggled to get an audience with Mr Johnson.
“That’s the last time he walks down the road like Kim Kardashian, preening for the cameras like the spoiled lord of Barnard Castle,” a Downing Street source told London’s Financial Times.
Referring to a picture of him leaving from the famous No. 10 door, the source added: “In future advisers will go round the back and let the elected prime minister use the front door.”
Mr Cummings’ departure comes as the UK was still trying to work out a Brexit deal, with the Europe Union’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier resorting to jokes this week by posing for a picture at a soccer pitch with the caption: “Went looking for level playing fields.”
Mr Cummings was the key campaigner behind the Vote Leave movement that won the 2016 referendum on the UK’s departure from the EU.
He was also the Machiavellian strategist who helped Mr Johnson win an 80-seat majority – the biggest since Margaret Thatcher – at the 2019 December election.
But Britain, parts of which were currently in a month-long second lockdown, has been hit hard by coronavirus, with more than 50,000 deaths.
The intervention of Ms Symonds, who was a former Conservative Party spin doctor, has set the cat among the pigeons in Westminster because traditionally spouses did not get involved in party politics.
Mr Cummings was a divisive figure, and his departure came as the UK government settled a case against a staffer who complained about her treatment when she was sacked last month.
The deal prevented a public hearing that would have detailed some of Mr Cummings’ text messages.
Mr Cummings, an eccentric Oxford educated adviser was reportedly proud of winning a world’s worst dressed competition, which was part of his anti-Establishment attitude.
stephen.drill@news.co.uk
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