Inside the Cummings Revolution

Adam Solomons | Issue 1 | Magazine, Politics

From the Archive

Dominic Cummings Special — Special Adviser Dominic Cummings leaves 10 Downing Street leaves with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on October 3, 2019. (Photo by Peter Summers/Getty Images)

How much can Whitehall’s antiquated government offices learn from the Palo Alto tech giants?

During the election campaign Dominic Cummings seemed a remote figure, and now we know why: he was plotting widespread Whitehall reform. In his cri-de-coeur blogpost of 2nd January 2020, Cummings issued a job spec designed to attract unconventional thinkers. Echoing start-up language, he talked of the need for unusual economists, unusual data scientists and “super-talented weirdos”.

It’s something he’s been thinking about for a long while. In 2014, Cummings wrote in another blogpost: “The biggest contrast in personality type and outlook of relevance to politics is not between ‘business’ and ‘politics/civil service’ … [but] between ‘bureaucrats’ and venture capitalists, start-up entrepreneurs and small businesspeople (‘start-ups’ for short).” There is little doubt about which camp Cummings inclines towards.

The idea that Whitehall should learn from business isn’t new. Steve Hilton, former director of strategy to David Cameron, also made northern California his political Mecca, but failed to revolutionise Whitehall during his two years in Downing Street. But will Cummings fare any better at instituting the technical innovation he regards as long overdue?

Plenty of people think Westminster could learn a lot from Britain’s start-up culture. Hayley Smith, head of marketing agency Boxed Out PR, has worked with government task forces in the departments of education and international …

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