The End of ‘Domocracy’ at No 10

Peter Cardwell | Issue 5 | 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)

Dominic Cummings's departure from Downing Street gives Boris Johnson the chance to reshuffle his team on more democratic lines, says former SpAd Peter Cardwell

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...

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