Dominic Mckenzie Cummings (born 25 November 1971) is a British political strategist who served as Chief Adviser to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson from 24 July 2019 until Cummings resigned on 13 November 2020. From 2007 to 2014, he was a special adviser to Michael Gove, including the time that Gove served as Education Secretary, leaving when Gove was made Chief Whip in a cabinet reshuffle. From 2015 to 2016, Cummings was director of Vote Leave, an organisation which successfully executed the 2016 referendum campaign for Britain's exit from the European Union. After Johnson was appointed Prime Minister in July 2019, Cummings was appointed as Chief Adviser to the Prime Minister. Cummings had a contentious relationship with Chancellor Sajid Javid which culminated in Javid's resignation in February 2020 after he refused to comply with Cummings's request to dismiss his special advisers. A scandal involving Cummings occurred in May 2020, after it was reported that he travelled to his parents' farm in Durham during the COVID-19 lockdowns while experiencing COVID-19 symptoms. 45 Conservative MPs called for his resignation and Cummings was criticised by opposition parties for noncompliance with public health restrictions. After Cummings held a press conference explaining his journey, Johnson supported his chief adviser by saying Cummings had acted "responsibly, legally and with integrity". Durham police said that they did not consider an offence was committed when Cummings travelled from London to Durham and that a minor breach might have occurred in travelling from there to Barnard Castle. The scandal negatively affected the public's trust in the government's pandemic response. Since leaving Downing Street in November 2020, Cummings has criticised the British government response to the COVID-19 pandemic and Johnson's leadership on several occasions.

From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Notable quotes

“[On then deputy cabinet secretary Helen MacNamara] I will personally handcuff her and escort her from the building. I don't care how it is done but that woman must be out of our hair. We cannot keep dealing with this horrific meltdown of the British state while dodging stilettos from that c***”.”
— WhatsApp message ([22] August 2020), as cited in "Dominic Cummings attacks Boris Johnson over pandemic response — as it happened", The Times (31 October 2023).
“[On Boris Johnson] Nobody could find a way around the problem of the prime minister, just like a shopping trolley, smashing from one side of the aisle to the other.”
— Speaking at a House of Commons hearing inquiring into the government's handling of the COVID pandemic, as cited in Heather Stewart and Peter Walker "Dominic Cummings says Boris Johnson 'unfit for job' of PM amid Covid crisis", The Guardian (26 May 2021)
“It is completely crazy that I should have been in such a senior position, in my personal opinion. I am not smart. I have not built great things in the world.”
— Oral evidence to the Health and Social Care and Science and Technology Committees of the House of Commons (26 May 2021).
“[Cummings lived in Russia from December 1994 until late 1996] Different places and different times in history are the epicentre of mad energy and in 1994 the epicentre of mad energy in the world was Moscow.”
— Interviewed by Jordan Tyldesley, as cited in "Cummings: 'Boris and I saved thousands from Covid – but we won’t talk again'", i (9 May 2024)

Quotes via Wikiquote (CC BY-SA), each with its original source.

Overview

Dominic Mckenzie Cummings (born 25 November 1971) is a British political strategist who served as Chief Adviser to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson from 24 July 2019 until Cummings resigned on 13 November 2020. From 2007 to 2014, he was a special adviser to Michael Gove, including the time that Gove served as Education Secretary, leaving when Gove was made Chief Whip in a cabinet reshuffle. From 2015 to 2016, Cummings was director of Vote Leave, an organisation which successfully executed the 2016 referendum campaign for Britain's exit from the European Union. After Johnson was appointed Prime Minister in July 2019, Cummings was appointed as Chief Adviser to the Prime Minister. Cummings had a contentious relationship with Chancellor Sajid Javid which culminated in Javid's resignation in February 2020 after he refused to comply with Cummings's request to dismiss his special advisers. A scandal involving Cummings occurred in May 2020, after it was reported that he travelled to his parents' farm in Durham during the COVID-19 lockdowns while experiencing COVID-19 symptoms. 45 Conservative MPs called for his resignation and Cummings was criticised by opposition parties for noncompliance with public health restrictions. After Cummings held a press conference explaining his journey, Johnson supported his chief adviser by saying Cummings had acted "responsibly, legally and with integrity". Durham police said that they did not consider an offence was committed when Cummings travelled from London to Durham and that a minor breach might have occurred in travelling from there to Barnard Castle. The scandal negatively affected the public's trust in the government's pandemic response. Since leaving Downing Street in November 2020, Cummings has criticised the British government response to the COVID-19 pandemic and Johnson's leadership on several occasions.

From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Dominic Mckenzie Cummings (born 25 November 1971) is a British political strategist who served as Chief Adviser to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson from 24 July 2019 until Cummings resigned on 13 November 2020.