Boris Johnson’s chief adviser Dominic Cummings resigns

Dominic Cummings’s reported resignation follows days of speculation after one of his closest allies in Number 10 quit.

Number 10 special adviser Dominic Cummings has resigned. Picture: AFP.

Boris Johnson’s chief adviser Dominic Cummings has reportedly resigned, following days of speculation after one of his closest allies in Number 10 quit.

Mr Cummings, one of the most controversial figures in Mr Johnson’s inner circle, had been under increasing pressure after the resignation of ally Lee Cain, Mr Johnson’s director of communications. Amid vicious in-fighting at No 10, Mr Cummings was said to have threatened to resign on Wednesday, but held off, The Times reports.

But BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg has reported via Twitter that sources in Downing St have confirmed Mr Cummings will be out by Christmas.

1. Senior No 10 source says Dominic Cummings is out by Christmas - after hours of speculation HE tells me 'rumours of me threatening to resign are invented, rumours of me asking others to resign are invented'... ..

— Laura Kuenssberg (@bbclaurak) November 12, 2020

The Times’ chief political commentator Tom Newton Dunn also confirmed Mr Cummings’ exit, tweeting: “Senior Govt figures confirm Dominic Cummings resigned today, following his close ally Lee Cain out the door.”

As per @bbclaurak's tweets, senior Govt figures confirm Dominic Cummings resigned today, following his close ally Lee Cain out the door, and will leave No10 before xmas. This was agreed with the PM in a meeting this afternoon.

— Tom Newton Dunn (@tnewtondunn) November 12, 2020

The decision was agreed with Mr Johnson on Thursday afternoon local time, after an attempt to have another Cummings ally replace Mr Cain failed, Mr Newton Dunn reported.

I'm told his last roll of the dice was to try to persuade Boris Johnson to appoint another No10 ally and his deputy Cleo Watson as the PM's Chief of Staff. Boris again refused, and it was then agreed that he would leave.

— Tom Newton Dunn (@tnewtondunn) November 12, 2020

Mr Cain resigned on Wednesday night local time, after Mr Johnson’s increasingly powerful fiance Carrie Symonds and senior advisers opposed plans to appoint him chief of staff.

The Times reports that Ms Symonds has nicknamed Mr Cain, Mr Cummings and other political advisers “the mad Mullahs,” and blames them for isolating Mr Johnson from his own MPs and for overseeing the disastrous missteps on the pandemic

Former Communication Director Lee Cain walks towards Downing Street. Picture Getty Images.

Mr Cummings, the architect of the Brexit Leave campaign, had appeared to be untouchable, even surviving calls for his sacking after he breached coronavirus lockdown laws earlier this year by driving 430km to Durham, while possibly suffering from coronavirus.

Mr Johnson’s support for his Sevangali like aide sparked a crisis of confidence in the government, but Mr Cummings appeared to emerge from it unscathed.

The latest war within Downing Street centred on the decision to install former television journalist Allegra Stratton to be the government’s new public face, fronting daily press briefings.

While Mr Cain had come up with the idea for an on-screen personality to take the post, Ms Stratton, a former aide to chancellor Rishi Sunak, said she would take the job on the condition that she answer only to the Prime Minister, and not to Mr Cain, the director of communications, The Times reports.

In January, Mr Cummings wrote in his blog: “We want to improve performance and make me much less important — and within a year largely redundant”