Having been originally reluctant take the role of adviser to Boris Johnson, Dominic Cummings never needed the title of chief of staff.  That's because he had more power than almost anyone who has ever had that role.  Dom - who I worked alongside as a special adviser - came into government for three reasons: to secure a large majority for the Conservative party in an election, get Brexit done and to reorganise the way the civil service interacts with the political team. The fact that he has achieved all three of these things in less than 18 months is an incredible legacy many Cabinet Ministers would kill for.  And that is why he is probably the most successful special adviser in the 56 years the role has formally existed.

But, in the end, Dominic's unseemly demise was much more Albert Square than Downing Street.  Just as when a the soap actor's character gets killed off, the "reasons" are the same - I was planning to leave anyway, I felt I had done everything I could with the character...