Boris Johnson Won't Sack His Top Aide For Breaking Lockdown. Here's Why.
LONDON – Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s defense of the seemingly indefensible – his refusal to sack top aide Dominic Cummings after he traveled during lockdown – has left many people asking one question.
Why is a newly elected prime minister with an 80-seat majority, who is beginning to turn the tide on coronavirus, burning through so much political capital to save one senior adviser?
Cummings has helped deliver victory after improbable victory for Johnson – from winning the referendum on European Union membership with Vote Leave to surviving half a year of chaotic minority government before delivering a thumping election win and getting Brexit “done.”
But now the prime minister is facing open revolt from members of Parliament, with one even suggesting he should leave Downing Street himself if he needs a “svengali” to “tell him what to say.”
And insiders question whether Cummings, seen as one of those political figures who “gets” voters’ concerns, has in fact now “lost it” amid an extraordinary political backlash and tanking poll ratings.
Either way, Johnson is sticking by Cummings for now, perhaps in a belief that their fates are intertwined.
Here’s why that might be.
‘He’s a winner’
Cummings had been a relatively minor figure until the Brexit referendum of 2016, when he took charge of Vote Leave and won an underdog victory for the ages after coining the “take back control” slogan.
Of course, many derided his campaign for spreading disinformation about the cost of EU membership and the threat of mass Turkish immigration.
Cummings also had a trump card in Johnson, the flawed politician but ace campaigner who made an agonizing choice to back Brexit having written both pro-Leave and pro-Remain articles before deciding.
The faces of Johnson and ally Michael Gove the morning after the result told a story – they had not expected to win.
“Boris had a lot of trust in Cummings from that,” says a former...
