Dominic Cummings and Lee Cain, head of communications, were told by the prime minister to quit amid fears that they would “poison the well” if they were allowed to remain in post until the end of the year, as planned.
Their departures represent the conclusion of a vicious power struggle at the heart of government in which the two trusted aides were pitted against the prime minister’s fiancée, Carrie Symonds, who led moves to oust them.
Change advisors, why not? They are, after all, advisors. Sure, I sign up for much of the Cummings agenda but still, they are advisors, not the elected.
But then there’s the other part. Why or how does Carrie have any power here? And that she’s bonking Boris might be the correct answer but it’s hardly right for this age of strong, independent and feminist women, is it?
Since they’re termed the Brexiteers, one does wonder whether the Remainiacs’ve bribed Carrie.
However, I doubt if the parties to the mess are sufficiently competent for such a conspiracy to function.
One thing’s for sure: whatever power she – and her equivalent wives/fianceés/partners/girlfriends all across the country – wields isn’t captured by the existing gender pay gap measurements.
With or without Cummings, the Tory party is utterly fucked. But the walking corpse will continue to lurch ever onwards. Won’t someone please drive a stake through its heart?
Carrie is a young(ish) metropolitan upper middle class female. Statistically, she ticks all the boxes for being pro-EU. Betting markets indicate only a 30% chance of a Brexit delay (an extension to the transition period), but I firmly expect a delay to happen.
We were told there was a mid November deadline for a trade deal with the EU. Failing that no deal
I am convinced we are about to get screwed but I’m not sure how. Maybe the ramblings of president elect Biden will be used as an excuse for kicking the already ancient can once more down the road. One way or another the game is up and pussy power has done it’s bit.
Why or how does Carrie have any power here?
Because BloJo is a big wobbly pink blancmange like a cowardly Bagpuss? Who’s easily led by his Johnston, even by a 4/10 tart who could charitably be described as having the thick, rubbery features of a SpongeBob Squarepants character?
Scrubbers! I tried to warn ye.
Anyway, fuck the Tories (not literally unless they’re cute), they’re done here.
Keen observers of bullshit will notice how, in less than a year, they’ve bait-and-switched immigration reduction into allowing anybody in the world with “skills” to come here as scab labour. I expect a similar shit sandwich to be delivered, with a little paper Union Jack (made in France) affixed to it, and described as “Brexit”.
Reform party now.
I too am convinved Boris will take a dive on brexit in the last round. Some bollocks along the lines of “now is not the time” to blah blah blah, etc. etc. etc.
Did that box Cummings carried out of No 10 have all the Tory votes in?
Because it might as well have done…
It’s Tier 2 of Government by Being Pushed Around. Government by Her Indoors.
Julia
Perhaps by the next election Boris can count on his global masters to provide a few US electioneers who will bring the boxes of replacement votes in through the back door.
The rebrand as New New Labour is almost complete.
Perhaps by the next election Boris can count on his global masters to provide a few US electioneers who will bring the boxes of replacement votes in through the back door.
Unless something changes big time with the way Boris is operating I give him 2 years, at most, probably 18 months. The Conservative Party exists for one reason and one reason only, to govern. That’s why except for Maggie they don’t do ideology and I can’t see them getting even close to a GE with him as PM.
The Conservative Party exists for one reason and one reason only, to govern.
More accurately, the Conservative parliamentary party exists to be the government. To occupy the seat of government. The necessity to govern is an unfortunate & unwanted consequence. What the Conservative constituency party wants is irrelevant & largely ignored.
BiND,
“Unless something changes big time with the way Boris is operating I give him 2 years, at most, probably 18 months. The Conservative Party exists for one reason and one reason only, to govern. That’s why except for Maggie they don’t do ideology and I can’t see them getting even close to a GE with him as PM.”
The problem is that you need at least some vague level of ideology to govern. You should have some sort of idea of how you want government to be, what it should do, what are the limits of government that you want, what incentives you want to make that happen. That doesn’t have to be extreme, even. Like, Blair wasn’t Corbyn, but he had some ideas around more Scandanavian style government. Bigger public sector, but OK with the market being more involved, none of that romantic puke about the NHS like Hancock.
If you don’t have that, how do you break that down into strategy, policy and so forth? And if you don’t do that, how do you plan for unpopular short-term decisions (many of which aren’t cared about except by a few activists). I would tell people that poor families already get paid money to raise their kids, so why do we need half-term school meals? We don’t provide meals for 3 year olds.
This is how you get 10 years of government whose largest achievements are a) free schools and b) Brexit, which was largely forced on them by UKIP. OK, HS2, but that’s a white elephant.
Boris’ legacy is Getting Bexit Done. If he fails that he’s nothing.
It’s interesting, the prospect of petticoat government both here and in the US.
In the US the Court Party beat the Country party in an election (however fiddled it might have been). In Britain it’s been by a putsch in Downing Street.
That’s not how you spell female dog.
Gordon Rayner in the Daily Telegraph write that Carrie Symonds nickname is Princess Nut Nuts.
@BiND “Unless something changes big time with the way Boris is operating I give him 2 years, at most, probably 18 months. ”
He has already had 12 months, I doubt he’ll manage another six.
She’s an advisor, isn’t she? I mean that’s sort of the point of having a partner – someone to run ideas by.
Sure, she’s not got a post and a paycheck, but she’s still an advisor.
The issue is whether Boris is strong enough to handle weighing in her use compared to his other advisors and the long-term damage it could do to his relationship or his cabinet.
The only thing keeping BoJo in power right now is that nobody wants to be tarred with the failure of BRExit (because the majority don’t believe in BRExit at all, but they had to profess belief to get/remain elected).
There is also the matter of the financial fallout from Boris’ decisions on COVID-19. The butchers bill for that will fall due by March at the latest and given the current suggestions of “hitting their own electoral base hard with taxes” – good luck with that one come the next election.
My view is they’ll allow BoJo to limp along and take the fall for the short-term BRExit post-transition and paying the bill for COVID-19, then come Spring 2022 they will be a massive call for “New leadership”.
I can’t see it happening any sooner than that.
*because the majority of MPs don’t believe in BRExit at all*
@TMB: I didn’t think I could admire Cummings more. I was wrong!
The Conservative Party exists for one reason and one reason only, to govern.
When do they start? Haven’t seen much of it this year.
Dominic Cummings is hated by the left and the Establishment, therefore he had to go.
Cummings has had over a year to achieve nothing
Except for embarrassing his boss during the lockdown
Not surprised Boris has asked him to leave
As Clint would say ‘a legend in his own mind’
It’s all very well being an original mind but he has to actually achieve something
Other than controversy I see no evidence of anything
Waste of rations
@Starfish
We don’t know what’s been going on behind the black shiny door do we? Cummings may have been tying to achieve all sorts of things but at every turn been blocked by champions of the status quo. It’s been obvious there’s been a strong anti-Cummings gang right from the start. The Tory Party aren’t interested in what’s good for the country. They’re interested in what’s good for a particular faction within the party that calls the shots.
@bis
Well
If he’s the intellectual Colossus he’s supposed to be he should have anticipated that and had some suitably devious plan
Or maybe he’s a busted flush
One man alone can make a difference.
But if you’re stymied at every turn, and everyone is against you (even your own side) how far can you get?
Trump rightly identified the media as the enemy, as Cummings did the BBC here. He kept them on the back foot with the threat to remove the compulsion aspect of the licence fee. You’ll notice that that went out the door along with him…