Dominic Cummings

The former health secretary’s other misdeeds may have attracted more headlines, but the use of private email and WhatsApp for government business is a serious concern

Dominic Cummings has explained why Tory officials prevented Boris Johnson from being interviewed by Andrew Neil during the 2019 general election. In the latest of his sustained war of words with his once long-standing ally, Cummings claimed the prime minister is a “gaffe machine” who is “clueless” on policy. During the 2019 December election campaign, […]

Boris Johnson described health secretary Matt Hancock as “hopeless” early in the coronavirus pandemic, according to a message published by former aide Dominic Cummings. Cummings, who has blamed Hancock for failings during the Covid response, published a screenshot apparently showing a WhatsApp exchange between himself and the prime minister. On March 3 last year, the […]

Matt Hancock has denied lying to Boris Johnson at any point during the pandemic, telling MPs he has always been driven by an approach of “honesty and integrity”. The health secretary was questioned over allegations made by the prime minister’s former aide Dominic Cummings to the Health and Social Care Committee and Science and Technology […]

The High Court has ruled Michael Gove’s awarding of a coronavirus contract to a market research company whose owners were friends of Dominic Cummings was unlawful. Campaigners had taken legal action against the Cabinet Office minister over the decision to pay more than £500,000 of taxpayers’ money to market research firm Public First, following the […]

A new £800 million research agency – which was originally described as Dominic Cummings’ ‘pet project’ – risks being a “side door to sleaze in science”, the opposition has warned. Ministers want the Advanced Research and Invention Agency (Aria) to focus on “high-risk, high-reward” research to explore new ideas while having “strategic and cultural” independence and […]

The real divide in this country is between those appalled by the PM’s behaviour and those who just don’t care We keep being told everyone is angry. Hence the rage, abuse and hatred that biles its way onto social media, every second of every minute of every hour of every day. I am beginning to […]

Michael Gove has insisted people will “make their own judgment” on Dominic Cummings’ evidence, as he sidestepped questions over the credibility of his former aide. The Cabinet Office minister was challenged by Labour to give his personal opinion on allegations levelled against the Government by Boris Johnson’s former senior adviser. Speaking in the Commons, Labour […]

Health secretary Matt Hancock will face MPs and the media to respond to claims from Dominic Cummings that he lied to colleagues and should have been fired for his disastrous performance in the coronavirus pandemic. Hancock did not comment on former No 10 aide Cummings’ explosive claims ahead of his Commons appearance and Downing Street press […]

Revelations about the government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, as recalled by aide Dominic Cummings, feature on the front of many Thursday papers. His marathon seven-hour session of evidence to MPs gave the press plenty to write about, some calling it a “rain of fire”, others a “Domshell”. They included suggestions government failings lead to […]

Health secretary Matt Hancock has rejected the allegations levelled at him by Dominic Cummings. Cummings accused the health secretary of performing “disastrously” below the standards expected and the cabinet secretary – the country’s top civil servant – had recommended he be sacked. “I think the secretary of state for health should’ve been fired for at least […]

Dominic Cummings has described chaos in Downing Street in the days leading up to the first Covid lockdown, with a “scene from Independence Day” and the prime minister’s fiancee Carrie Symonds going “completely crackers” over press coverage of her dog Dilyn. Boris Johnson’s former chief adviser told MPs the country should have locked down the […]

Whitehall’s top official recommended to Boris Johnson that health secretary Matt Hancock should be fired over coronavirus failings, Dominic Cummings has claimed. The prime minister’s former adviser said there were around 20 reasons why Hancock should have been given the sack – including, he claimed, lying both in Cabinet room meetings and publicly. He said […]

Transport secretary Grant Shapps, who defended Dominic Cummings after his trip to Barnard Castle during lockdown last year, has admitted the former aide had undermined the government’s public health message. “I thought he was right at the time to stand by his family, to go into effective quarantine, and that’s what he did,” Shapps told […]

Downing Street is braced for more explosive revelations from the prime minister’s former chief advisor Dominic Cummings as he makes a much-anticipated appearance before MPs. Cummings has been vocal in his condemnation of Boris Johnson, health secretary Matt Hancock, and others since leaving government after a behind-the-scenes power struggle in November. Ahead of giving evidence […]

Boris Johnson did not miss emergency meetings on the response to the emerging coronavirus pandemic because he was working on a book, Downing Street has insisted. The prime minister’s official spokesman said he was “not aware” of Johnson doing any work on a biography of William Shakespeare while in office. Johnson did not chair the […]

Liz Truss has called on the EU to scrap “border control and paperwork” on Irish Sea trade, setting up a clash with Brussels over the Northern Ireland Protocol. Asked if the government’s aim is to remove all red tape – despite those checks being agreed by Boris Johnson in his Brexit deal – the trade […]

Home secretary Priti Patel has denied a claim by Dominic Cummings that the government’s original response to the coronavirus outbreak was to pursue a strategy of “herd immunity”. In a series of explosive tweets, the prime minister’s former top adviser said the policy – to build up resistance in the population by allowing some spread […]

Boris Johnson’s former senior aide Dominic Cummings has warned the prime minister against unlocking England on Monday over fears of a surge in the Indian variant of coronavirus. Cummings shared calls from independent scientists on social media who claim that a lifting of lockdown on May 17 could risk a third wave of the pandemic […]

Boris Johnson created an administration in his own image, and it is doing irreparable damage to our country Shortly before he stepped down after a decade as prime minister, Tony Blair hosted a dinner at Chequers for advisers who had been with him more or less since he became Labour leader. In every one of […]

Department store John Lewis appeared to mock Boris Johnson as he faced a probe into the controversial refurbishment of his Downing Street flat. The lavish update of the Downing Street decor was reportedly inspired by a desire to get rid of the “John Lewis furniture nightmare” left over by Theresa May. As the Electoral Commission […]

Downing Street is said to be alarmed by reports circulating that Dominic Cummings will release explosive WhatsApp messages exposing the chaos during the early days of the fight against Covid-19. Insiders are said to be sifting through the phones in search of information that could cause them trouble. This comes as a bitter spat between Boris […]

Number 10 has refused to deny that Boris Johnson personally briefed editors of pro-Tory newspapers over a number of leaks against him. The Telegraph, Sun, and Times last week all claimed that Dominic Cummings was to blame for “systematic leaking” of the prime minister’s texts with James Dyson and Saudi prince Mohammed Bin Salman. The […]

Boris Johnson did not try to block the investigation into who leaked the decision to impose the second lockdown, the top civil servant has suggested, as he said a culprit is yet to be identified. Simon Case declined to comment on Monday on whether the prime minister’s former chief aide Dominic Cummings had been cleared […]

The UK’s most senior civil servant is expected to indicate he has not cleared Boris Johnson’s former adviser Dominic Cummings over the so-called “chatty rat” leak of plans for a second lockdown. Simon Case, the cabinet secretary, is expected to say his inquiry into the leak last autumn is still “live” when he appears before the […]

Boris Johnson has denied he tried to block an official leak inquiry following a series of incendiary allegations by his former top adviser Dominic Cummings. In a furious outburst, Cummings accused the PM of seeking to halt the investigation into the leak of plans for a second lockdown after he was warned a close friend of […]

Dominic Cummings told Boris Johnson plans to have donors “secretly pay” to revamp his official Downing Street flat were “unethical, foolish” and “possibly illegal”, the ex-Number 10 aide said. The prime minister stopped speaking to his top adviser about the issue last year, Cummings said. He said he had refused to help Johnson organise payments […]

Dominic Cummings has denied being the source of a BBC story on Boris Johnson’s text communications with businessman James Dyson. In a blog post that claims that Johnson and his office has fallen “so far below the standards of competence and integrity the country deserves”, he denied leaking the messages.  The prime minister’s former aide […]