UK: Johnson’s chief adviser Dominic Cummings exits Downing Street
Special adviser to UK PM Johnson, carries a box as he leaves 10 Downing Street in London
Amidst United Kingdom’s grave second wave of coronavirus cases final moments of Brexit, British PM Boris Johnson’s chief adviser, Dominic Cummings has stepped down, a source at Downing Street confirmed on Friday. Pictures showed Cummings carrying box as he departed from the PM office at 10 Downing Street on Friday.
The Prime Minister’s special adviser had been speculated to be vacating his position before Christmas in another sign of estranged circumstances within Kingdom’s conservative government. Cummings a divisive figure has often been described as the mastermind of Brexit campaign and Boris Johnson’s takeover of 10 Downing Street.
His resign follows that of Premier’s communications director Lee Cain. After news broke of Cain’s ouster on Wednesday, rumor mill had been in overdrive that Cummings was threatening to step down from his post. Cummings talking to BBC said that “rumors of me threatening to resign are invented,” though he added that his “position hasn’t changed since my January blog.”
The blog post he is alluding to stated that Downing Street was aiming to “improve performance and make me much less important — and within a year largely redundant.”
According to Downing Street, both Cain and Cummings will continue to work with Johnson’s office until mid-December. “The Prime Minister has today asked Sir Edward Lister to take on the role of chief of staff for an interim period pending a permanent appointment to the post,” said a No 10 spokesman.
Both Cain and Cummings were key members of the Vote Leave team that guided Johnson into Downing Street in 2019 after successfully garnering public support from UK voters to reject its present in EU through 2016 Brexit referendum.
Conservative MPs have been alarmed at Johnson’s unchecked fondness for Cummings despite different scandals surrounding the adviser. One of which recorded his famous outing with wife and child for hundreds of miles from London after the whole Kingdom went for lockdown.
The political tumult surrounding Johnson aides first broke on same day when Kingdom’s COVID-19 death toll crossed mindboggling 50,000 mark. England has now entered a second, month-long nationwide lockdown on Nov 5 in the wake of second wave of infections. Strict restrictions have also been enforced in Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland of late.
