Written By Nicholas Bishop
No doubt about it, Dominic Cummings has to be one of the most controversial, and colourful, top advisor any UK Prime Minister has had for a while. Not since the days of Tony Blair and his right-hand man, Alistair Campbell, has there been such a situation as we have now. Â
Boris Johnson appears to have an almost symbiotic relationship with his top advisor. It appears Mr Johnson cannot function without the advice of Mr Cummings.
Rumours from inside the cabinet say Boris hangs on his top aide’s every word. The functioning of the Johnson administration, it would appear, would fall apart without the direction of Mr Cummings. No doubt, this is the reason Boris has held fast to him, despite the media storm about Cumming’s trip north to Durham during lockdown. The media have been baying for Mr Cummings resignation and MPs (including 30 Tories) have called for him to step down. To date, however, Boris has stubbornly shielded his partner in crime.
In recent days, more controversial rumours have emerged about Mr Cummings drive to Durham. A resident spotted Mr Cummings at the tourist destination Barnard Castle, when he was supposed to be self-isolating. Barnard Castle just happens to be the base of IDOX, Glaxo SmithKline, of whom it was reported Cummings’ sister is one of the directors. IDOX is behind the Government’s track and trace app and is currently working on a vaccine for COVID-19. How coincidental that Mr Cummings just happened to visit Barnard Castle for an “eye test”.
However, it now appears, at least according to the IDOX website, that Alice Cummings is not related to Dominic Cummings in any way. Neither is the company, again according to an official statement on its website, involved in the track and trace app. Alice Cummings, one of the company’s directors, only became a Cummings when she married someone of that surname.
After details of his trip appeared in the media, Dominic Cummings held a less than apologetic press briefing over his journey north, in the rose garden at Number 10. His boss faced a virtual select committee grilling from cross-party MPs, and faced harsh criticism for standing by Mr Cummings.
Some of Boris’ harshest critics were fellow Conservative MPs, but he seems to be taking little notice; he has told his critics to move on from the Cummings debacle, and instead focus on the launch of the track and trace app.
Mr Cummings salary has also come under scrutiny from many quarters. The average British salary is £29,500, whereas, Mr Cummings earnings are certainly more sizeable. The take-home pay of Mr Cummings is between £95,000 – £99,999 and this is why, MPs and the media, have been, so critical.
During a recent Downing Street briefing, Rev. Martin Poole posed a question to Health Minister, Matt Hancock. Rev. Poole said would it be possible that if Mr Cummings was not fined for breaking lockdown guidelines, could not ordinary people have their fines waived. Mr Hancock said, he would get back to the vicar, over this. Sadly, however, Rev. Poole was disappointed to find out that that fines imposed on the public, for alleged breaking of lockdown rules, would not be waived. It now seems people like Mr Cummings, are above the law, in other words, it only applies to us lesser mortals.
14,000 lockdown fines have been issued by the police in England and Wales. These figures date from 27 March – 11 May over the actual or alleged breaking of the guidelines over COVID-19 by the general public. This data covers a period before the penalty rose from £60 – £100 in England only after some lockdown rules were relaxed. Disclosure has shown that 56 people, were wrongly, fined.
Mr Cummings has always been a controversial character. One of his university professors described him as “fizzing with ideas” and likened him to Robespierre. Mr Cummings, born in Durham, went to state primary school, before being privately educated at Durham School. Later in life, he moved to Russia for a number of years to pursue business interests, which came to nothing.
Mr Cummings has never been a member of a political party, despite being voted one of the most influential Conservatives in a recent poll. The top aide to Boris describes himself as “neither a libertarian nor a populist”. On the European Union, he said it was feeding both left and right extremism. Mr Cummings has also publicly attacked what he sees as Britain’s London-centric approach to politics, calling for devolved assemblies in the Midlands and the North.
Cummings’ owes a lot of his favour with Boris to his successful stewardship of the ‘Vote Leave’ campaign, which saw Boris’ side sweep to victory in 2016. During the campaign, Mr Cummings had differences with Nigel Farage and wanted him frozen out of the “Vote Leave” completely.
During his time working as an adviser to the then Education Secretary, Michael Gove, Cummings clashed with PM David Cameron clashed because he was found to have been briefing against the Home Office. After their disagreement, David Cameron famously referred to Cummings as a “career psychopath”.
Following this, Mr Cummings spent some time in the political wilderness, before being brought in from the cold by Boris.
Politics is not the only game in town for Cummings; he owns 3 registered companies. Dynamic Maps Ltd describes itself as an information technology consultancy. Northwood prides itself on being able to help out in the world of politics, management and communications. Mr Cummings’ current net worth is not known.
The future for Mr Cummings seems intimately tied in with the fate of the Johnson administration, which would appear to be on the way down if polls are to be believed. One thing is for sure though, with a svengali, cloak and dagger character like Dominic Cummings, the only certainty is uncertainty.
