All hail, Prime Minister Dominic Cummings

Dominic Cummings (Image: Sky News)

When 14 million Brits turned up to vote for the Conservatives on Thursday 12th December 2019, how many of them did so because they wanted Boris Johnson to continue as Prime Minister? Getting a precise figure for this will be impossible, unless we interviewed every single voter. However, I'm not sure if most of them went to the polls thinking that Johnson won't be the most significant figure in 10 Downing Street.

It has been two months since Johnson won the general election for the Tories and yet there have been decisions made under his watch that has provoked people to say 'Oh, Boris wouldn't have done that'. In recent weeks, we have seen the potentially turbulent future of the BBC discussed, the cherry picking of journalists he wants to brief on important national matters and the sudden resignation of Sajid Javid as Chancellor. Writer and Sky One's The Pledge panellist, Rachel Johnson, also sister of the Prime Minister, insists that the 'reporter ban' wouldn't have come from a man who is a journalist by trade, i.e. her brother, hinting that Johnson isn't the real big cheese in power. She isn't alone to go on record to hint this way either.

So who are political commentators pointing their finger at? Come forward, Dominic Cummings. He's a figure very few heard of this time five years ago, but his rise to fame since 2016 has been one nobody really anticipated. He was the leading strategist for the Leave campaign which led to the UK's vote to leave the European Union - his influence depicted in a Channel 4 feature length drama, starring BAFTA winning actor Benedict Cumberbatch as Cummings. His appointment as Boris Johnson's Chief Special Advisor, fast forward three years, was just the reward he craved for Brexit.

Cumberbatch (C) as Cummings (Image: The Guardian)

If you search 'Dominic Cummings on my blog', you'll find I only mention him in passing during the New Year just past. I must admit, I never really noticed him even during the EU referendum, as his name was secondary compared to the high profile Leave campaigners including Boris Johnson, Michael Gove and others. And I must also confess, I have never seen the Cumberbatch drama either, though I don't have a strong desire to do so. Researching him for this article, however, it's clear Cummings has been around for a while and actually, being appointed as Johnson's right hand man was inevitable.

Cummings's involvement with the Conservative Party started around 20 years ago when he was special advisor for Iain Duncan Smith. That didn't last long as they couldn't get along but in 2002, Cummings was 31 years of age - I'm surprised the former Tory leader gave him a big job like that without having prior significant experience in party politics. It was only until five years later when he began building a reputation as a key Tory figure - he worked for Michael Gove, advising on his work when the Tories were in opposition, and in government when Gove was considered one of the 'most hated Education Secretaries in history'. In 2014, Cummings walked away from Gove after Nicky Morgan took over as Education Secretary, and he ensured his exit wasn't short of controversy by making a string of derogatory comments towards members of the coalition government, including 'self-obsessed' Nick Clegg and 'thick as mince' David Davis. Then the rest is history when he took over as campaign director of the largest Leave campaign.

Gove and Johnson (Image: CityAM)

To put it mildly, Cummings is the worst nightmare of many, many people. I remember how deeply unpopular Gove was as Education Secretary. It felt as though teachers were striking every five minutes during that period. It was an unsettling period for British education. And with the divisive manner that Leave won in the EU referendum, we should have known his ambitions were far greater than what they were at the start of the last decade.

The problem for those who despise everything that Cummings stands for, is that he now has a strong track record of winning important elections. He knows exactly what to say and who to say it to. And coming from Durham, he knew the tactics to execute in order to pull the heart strings of people across the north, hence why many constituents turned out to vote Tory for the first time. Whatever he's doing, no matter how he's doing it, it's working. And when he proposes to turn the BBC into a Fox News equivalent, build an anti-establishment campaign in central government, put a 'no-deal Brexit on the table' or having ministers he wants sitting in cabinet, remember, this is just the beginning, and commentators and certain members of the public, myself included, are justifiably nervous.

Britain's future isn't based on policy, but on Cummings's ego. He's never had this much power before and, yet, never been in a position where he can influence the economy's direction, which is currently stagnating at best. His main focus - I mean the government's main focus - is to spread investment beyond the M25 motorway, which on paper is both great and necessary. Announcements of HS2 building plans being back on track, as well as floating the idea of moving the House of Lords to York will bound to please those who want more focus on the north. But with economic growth falling enough for the 'R' word (recession) being strongly rumoured, and industries still nervous about how the pending UK/EU trade deal will pan out, 2020 looks increasingly certain to be the year which the entire country (especially the north) will either thrive or dive, and only Cummings has the power to determine that. It's down to Johnson as to whether he has the gumption to prevent this. Remember Prime Minister, Cummings is there to advise, not lead.