A day of explosive disclosures from No. 10 has ended in the resignation of Lee Cain as Boris Johnson’s communications chief. Only 24 hours ago, it was reported he’d be promoted to Chief of Staff, after having threatened to quit last week. Now, he’s gone.
Depending on which rumours you believe, Cain had fallen out with Carrie Symonds, the Prime Minister’s fiancee and a former Tory party spin chief with her own views on how the job should be done. Cain, it’s said, felt undermined to the extent of being unable to fulfil his role – all the more so when Allegra Stratton was appointed the PM’s on-screen spokesman. So he offered to quit on Friday, but the PM instead offered to promote him to Chief of Staff. News of this job offer, in turn, caused uproar with all kinds of remarks briefed to the press. ‘Ms Symonds led a revolt of Number 10 women,’ says the Daily Telegraph, which may explain some of the anonymous quotes. This one,
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