Cummings’ exit: internal showdown with the Tories while BoJo redesigns communication
So Dominic Cummings eventually left Downing Street. Boris Johnson's chief adviser followed fellow chief communications officer Lee Cain and left the government with immediate effect without waiting for the end of the year as has been suggested by many. Images of BoJo's Rasputin leaving his office with boxes in hand made the rounds of British newspapers and TVs amidst the cheers of conservative MPs, reported by the Daily Telegraph and more.
Cummings made headlines at the time of the Brexit referendum. He was the creator of the lucky slogan "Take back control" , "let's take back control", and the bus that traveled all over the country to sponsor the exit from the EU. Last year Johnson strongly wanted him in Downing Street for the electoral campaign, but during the pandemic the news of his violation of the lockdown rules imposed by his own government made him rise to the role of "villain" in front of the eyes of the 'public opinion. His farewell, then loudly requested by several MPs of the party, was blocked by Johnson who, instead, seems to have been the promoter of his premature exit last week.
Normal logic of relations between the Prince and the Prince's advisers, Machiavelli would say. It is well known that a councilor must never appear more than practice and common sense require, and Cummings has become too much of a character to stay in his place. Benedict Cumberbatch masterfully played a character who has never been a member of the Tory party and has always remained on the fringes of the British establishment for his ideas in the film “The Uncivil War” . Ideas and personalities that led him to clash with the leaders of the British Permanent Government in Whitehall and with the Tories who did not forgive him for the too close relationship with the premier.
Many mainstream media have interpreted Rasputin-Cummings' farewell as Johnson's rethinking of Brexit. Of course, this is all misleading to an internal Conservative Party affair that pitted even politicians who once campaigned together for Brexit against each other. Sighs of relief at Cummings' sacking were former leader Tory Iain Duncan Smith, and former Brexit Secretary David Davis, among others, two of the most vocal supporters of leaving. EU.
Cummings had become too influential on Johnson according to the Tories, who are already waging war on the premier over the exit from the lockdown , the economy and the keeping of electoral promises in the north-east. As late as last week, 36 lawmakers voted against Johnson in the Commons on the second lockdown , while the Lords' controversial Internal Market Bill was rejected with a vote also against Michael Howard, another former Conservative leader on a collision course with the government.
Johnson desperately needs to move the waters and then calm them down. Relations between his collaborators in Downing Street have been described as "stormy" by many. The Observer reported that Cain left the government among the insults. Insults aimed in particular at Allegra Stratton, the new American-style front-woman of the government press conferences. But that Johnson is moving towards an Americanization of his communication is also evident from the fact that Sajid Javid – former Chancellor of the Exchequer and MP Tory – is being spoken of as the Downing Street chief of staff. Javid had resigned from Johnson I precisely due to disagreements with Cummings over the role of his collaborators and could dramatically return to the game once Rasputin is knocked out. Now it's a question of who will prevail in a party that has already identified the new culprit behind Johnson's electoral honeymoon: his girlfriend, Carrie Symonds.
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This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Atlantico Quotidiano at the URL http://www.atlanticoquotidiano.it/quotidiano/luscita-di-scena-di-cummings-resa-dei-conti-interna-ai-tories-mentre-bojo-rifa-il-look-alla-comunicazione/ on Tue, 17 Nov 2020 03:34:00 +0000.