Dominic Cummings’s departure has been described as a big loss to Boris Johnson. There is no doubt that his top advisor played a significant role in the Tories’ thumping election win a year ago. But his time in Downing Street has been less successful. So could Cummings’ departure actually help Boris?
His Christmas resignation – which Cummings insists is in keeping with the pledge made at the start of this year – is a chance for Boris Johnson to reinvent himself. It could also ultimately help save his flagging premiership, one dragged down by the Covid crisis and the continuing impossibility of ending Brexit in a satisfactory manner. What’s more his parliamentary party’s unhappiness at the power accrued by Dominic Cummings is one that has been increasingly hard to ignore. Most of his MPs will be overjoyed at the news which broke overnight; they’ll tell themselves – rightly or wrongly – this is the chance to get the ‘old Boris’ back, the one who was funny, charming and seemingly carefree, instead of the PM they’ve had leading them for the past six months or so.
But if this does represent a big opportunity for Boris, will he take it? It’s clear that Boris is a PM who, as when he was London mayor, wants other people to help him run things.
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