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Dominic Cummings

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Dominic Cummings
Special Political Advisor for the
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Incumbent
Assumed office
24 July 2019
Prime MinisterBoris Johnson
Preceded byPosition established
Personal details
Born (1971-11-25) 25 November 1971 (age 53)[1]
Durham, England[1]
Political partyIndependent[2]
SpouseMary Wakefield
Children1
EducationDurham School
Alma materExeter College, Oxford
OccupationPolitical adviser
Known forSpecial adviser to Education Secretary Michael Gove, 2010–2014;
Campaign director Vote Leave, 2015–2016;
Special political adviser to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, 2019–present
Websitedominiccummings.com

Dominic Cummings (born 25 November 1971) is a British political strategist. From 2007 to 2014 he was a special adviser to the then Education Secretary, Michael Gove. In 2015–16 he was the campaign director of Vote Leave, an organization opposed to continued UK membership of the European Union and which took an active part in the 2016 referendum campaign on the subject. In July 2019 the new Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, appointed him to the role of special adviser to the government.

Early life

Cummings was born in Durham on 25 November 1971, the son of an oil rig project manager and a special needs teacher.[1][3] After attending state primary school, he was educated at Durham School and Exeter College, Oxford, graduating in 1994 with a First in Ancient and Modern History.[1][4][3]

After university, Cummings moved to post-Soviet Russia from 1994 to 1997, working on various projects. In one Russian venture, he worked for a group attempting to set up an airline connecting Samara in southern Russia to Vienna; however, the venture fell foul of the KGB, and was abandoned after only one flight.[1]

Cummings has stated on his own blog that he has never been a member of a political party,[5] an assertion which has not been disputed.[3][6]

Political career

1999 to 2014

From 1999 to 2002, Cummings was campaign director at Business for Sterling, the campaign against the UK joining the Euro.[1][4] He then became Director of Strategy for Conservative Party leader Iain Duncan Smith for 8 months in 2002, aiming to modernise the Conservative Party (of which he was not a member); however he soon left in frustration at the introduction of what he saw as half-measures, labelling Duncan Smith "incompetent".[7][6] With James Frayne he founded the New Frontiers Foundation think-tank as its director; it launched in December 2003 and closed in March 2005.[8] Cummings was described as a "key figure" in the successful campaign against a North-East Regional Assembly in 2004,[9] after which he moved to his father's farm in County Durham.[4]

Cummings worked for Conservative politician Michael Gove from 2007 to January 2014, first in opposition and then, after the 2010 general election, as a special adviser (Spad) in the Department of Education . He was Gove's chief of staff,[7] an appointment blocked by Andy Coulson until his own resignation.[10][11] In this capacity, Cummings wrote an essay titled: "Some thoughts on education and political priorities",[12] about transforming Britain into a "meritocratic technopolis";[7] the essay was described by Guardian journalist Patrick Wintour as "either mad, bad or brilliant – and probably a bit of all three".[11][13]

At the DfE Cummings became known for his blunt style and "not suffering fools gladly";[7][4] he railed against the "blob", the informal alliance of senior civil servants and teachers who, in Cummings's opinion, sought to frustrate his attempts at reform.[9] Cummings was also outspoken regarding other senior politicians, describing Nick Clegg's proposals on free school meals as "Dreamed up on the back of a cigarette packet",[14] and David Davis as "thick as mince" and "lazy as a toad".[9] Patrick Wintour described the Cummings-Gove working relationship: "Gove, polite to a fault, would often feign ignorance of his adviser’s methods, but knew full well the dark arts that Cummings deployed to get his master’s way".[14] In 2014, Prime Minister David Cameron criticised Cummings as a "career psychopath",[15] although the two had never met.[14]

In 2014, Cummings left his job as a Spad and noted that he might have a go at opening a free school.[10] He had previously worked for the New Schools Network charity that advises free schools, as a volunteer from June 2009 and then as a paid freelancer from July to December 2010.[10][16]

Campaign to leave the European Union (2016–2019)

See also: 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum

Cummings became campaign director of Vote Leave upon the creation of the organisation in October 2015.[13] He is credited with having created the Vote Leave slogan, "Take back control", and with being the leading strategist of the campaign.[17][18] His campaign strategy was summarised as: "Do talk about immigration";[19][20] "Do talk about business"; "Don’t make the referendum final"; "Do keep mentioning the Charter of Fundamental Rights and the over-reach of the European Union's Court of Justice". Board member of Vote Leave Bernard Jenkin tried to remove Cummings and merge Vote Leave with the other campaign, Leave.EU.[21] Cummings and Vote Leave CEO Matthew Elliott left the board in February 2016 following reported infighting.[22] The June 2016 referendum resulted in a 51.9% vote to "leave" the European Union. Cummings was praised alongside Elliott as being one of the masterminds of the campaign.[23] He was named as one of "Debrett's 500 2016" people of influence.[24]

In March 2019, the Commons Select Committee of Privileges recommended the House issue an admonishment for alleged contempt of Parliament after Cummings failed to appear before the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee inquiry into claims of false news during the referendum campaign; however, the House declined to admonish Cummings and no finding of contempt was made.[25][26][27]

Johnson ministry (2019–present)

On 24 July 2019, Cummings was appointed as a senior adviser to Prime Minister Boris Johnson.[28]

On his appointment, The Guardian noted that at a conference in 2017 Cummings had argued that: "People think, and by the way I think most people are right: 'The Tory party is run by people who basically don't care about people like me'"; and that "Tory MPs largely do not care about these poorer people. They don't care about the NHS. And the public has kind of cottoned on to that".[29]

The Daily Telegraph reported on Cummings's past rivalry with Nigel Farage from the 2016 referendum campaign, and quoted Farage as saying that: "He has never liked me. He can't stand the ERG. I can't see him coming to any accommodation with anyone. He has huge personal enmity with the true believers in Brexit".[30]

Cummings was accused of hypocrisy when, not long after his appointment, it was revealed that a farm that he co-owns had received €250,000 (£235,000) in EU farming subsidies. Cummings had previously described such subsidies as "absurd", complaining that some of them were handed out to "very rich landowners to do stupid things".[31]

Political views

In January 2016, Cummings said that "Extremists are on the rise in Europe and are being fuelled unfortunately by the Euro project and by the centralisation of power in Brussels. It it is increasingly important that Britain offers an example of civilised, democratic, liberal self-government."[32]

At the Nudgestock event in 2017, Cummings said: "For me ... the worst-case scenario for Europe is a return to 1930s-style protectionism and extremism. And to me the EU project, the Eurozone project, are driving the growth of extremism. The single most important reason, really, for why I wanted to get out of the EU is I think that it will drain the poison of a lot of political debates ... UKIP and Nigel Farage would be finished. Once there’s democratic control of immigration policy, immigration will go back to being a second- or third-order issue."[33]

Personal life

In December 2011, Cummings married Mary Wakefield, who became the deputy editor of The Spectator, and is the daughter of Sir Humphry Wakefield, of Chillingham Castle in Northumberland.[6] In 2016, Mary gave birth to a boy.[34]

He is reportedly an admirer of Otto von Bismarck, Richard Feynman, Sun Tzu,[33] and U.S. fighter pilot and military strategist John Boyd.[35] British journalist Owen Bennett claimed that Cummings "is a Russophile, speaks Russian, and is passionately interested in Dostoyevsky";[1] while Patrick Wintour in The Guardian reported that "Anna Karenina, maths and Bismarck are his three obsessions."[14]

Cummings was portrayed by Benedict Cumberbatch in the 2019 Channel 4 drama, Brexit: The Uncivil War.[36][37]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Owen Bennett (25 July 2019). "Chapter 11: Changing Places". Michael Gove: A Man in a Hurry. Biteback Publishing. ISBN 978-1785904400. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
  2. ^ Dominic Cummings. "Dominic Cummings's Blog: About Me". Retrieved 13 August 2019.
  3. ^ a b c Frances Perraudin (25 July 2019). "Boris Johnson's key adviser: Who is no-deal Brexit guru Dominic Cummings?". Irish Times. Retrieved 9 August 2019.
  4. ^ a b c d Gimson, Andrew (15 May 2014). "A profile of Dominic Cummings, friend of Gove and enemy of Clegg". Conservative Home.
  5. ^ Dominic Cummings. "Dominic Cummings's Blog: About Me". Retrieved 9 January 2019.
  6. ^ a b c Maya Oppenheim (5 July 2019). "Dominic Cummings: The Vote Leave chief who invented £350m claim before admitting Brexit was a mistake". The Independent. Retrieved 9 August 2019.
  7. ^ a b c d Bagehot (21 January 2016). "An optimistic Eurosceptic. For Dominic Cummings, leaving the European Union is a first step in a British renaissance". The Economist.
  8. ^ "It could have been so much worse". Social Affairs Unit blog. 4 May 2005. Retrieved 18 June 2016.
  9. ^ a b c "Who are Boris Johnson's key advisors". BBC News. 30 July 2019. Retrieved 9 August 2019. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  10. ^ a b c Garner, Richard; Cusick, James (7 October 2013). "Michael Gove's controversial adviser Dominic Cummings 'quits to open new free school'". The Independent. Retrieved 18 June 2016.
  11. ^ a b Wintour, Patrick (11 October 2013). "Dominic Cummings: genius or menace?". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 June 2016.
  12. ^ Cummings, Dominic (2013). "Some thoughts on education and political priorities" (PDF).
  13. ^ a b "Bagehot" (21 January 2016). "An interview with Dominic Cummings". The Economist. London. Retrieved 18 June 2016.
  14. ^ a b c d Patrick Wintour (26 July 2019). "Dominic Cummings: master of the dark arts handed keys to No 10". theguardian.com. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
  15. ^ Mason, Rowena (18 June 2014). "PM backs Michael Gove but suggests former aide was a 'career psychopath'". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 July 2016.
  16. ^ McClenaghan, Maeve (18 November 2011). "Gove aide given parliamentary pass while at New Schools Network". The Bureau of Investigative Journalism. Retrieved 18 June 2016.
  17. ^ Mance, Henry; Parker, George (14 June 2016). "Combative Brexiter who took control of Vote Leave operation". Financial Times. London. Retrieved 11 August 2016.
  18. ^ "Matthew Elliott on Vote Leave's 'genius moment'". BBC News. Retrieved 10 August 2016.
  19. ^ Mandelson, Peter (3 May 2016). "Lord". Why is the Brexit camp so obsessed with immigration? Because that's all they have. The Guardian. Retrieved 29 July 2019. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  20. ^ Cummings, Dominic. "Mr". youtube. Brexit Sham. Retrieved 29 July 2019.[better source needed]
  21. ^ Dico, Joy Lo (24 February 2016). "How Will Straw and Dominic Cummings are pulling the strings of the EU Referendum power players". London Evening Standard. Retrieved 18 June 2016.
  22. ^ Wilson, Jeremy (4 February 2016). "Everyone in the campaign to get Britain out of the EU is stabbing each other in the back". Business Insider UK. Retrieved 18 June 2016.
  23. ^ Payne, Sebastian (24 June 2016). "How Vote Leave won the EU referendum". Financial Times. London. Retrieved 10 August 2016.
  24. ^ "Dominic Cummings". Debrett's. Archived from the original on 3 July 2016. Retrieved 18 June 2016. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  25. ^ Syal, Rajeev; agencies (27 March 2019). "Dominic Cummings found in contempt of parliament". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
  26. ^ BBC News (27 March 2019). "Vote Leave's Dominic Cummings 'in contempt of Parliament'". BBC. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
  27. ^ Merrick, Rob (27 March 2019). "Dominic Cummings: Vote Leave chief found in contempt of parliament over refusal to give evidence to 'fake news' inquiry". The Independent. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
  28. ^ "Who is 'career psychopath' Dominic Cummings set to join Johnson's team?". Sky News. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
  29. ^ editor, Rowena Mason (30 July 2019). "Dominic Cummings: Tory MPs do not care about poor people or NHS". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 31 July 2019. {{cite news}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  30. ^ Bennett, Asa (31 July 2019). "Dominic Cummings and Nigel Farage: the Brexit referendum rivalry that continues to rage". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
  31. ^ "Brexit enforcer Cummings' farm took €235,000 in EU handouts". The Observer. 10 August 2019. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  32. ^ "An interview with Dominic Cummings". The Economist. 21 January 2016.
  33. ^ a b Handa, Sahil (10 August 2019). "Can Dominic Cummings Banish Nativist Populism From U.K. Politics?". Foreign Policy.
  34. ^ Rabbett, Abigail; Morley, Nicole (January 8, 2019). "Who is Dominic Cummings? The Durham man behind Brexit played by Benedict Cumberbatch in Channel 4 show". Evening Chronicle.
  35. ^ "The US fighter pilot inspiring Boris Johnson's most powerful adviser". ITV News. 17 August 2019.
  36. ^ Bennett, Asa (28 December 2018). "Brexit: The Uncivil War review: Benedict Cumberbatch is superb in this thrilling romp through the referendum". The Daily Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 8 January 2019.
  37. ^ Matthew Elliott (4 January 2019). "Vote Leave's Matthew Elliott on Channel 4's Brexit: The Uncivil War". Financial Times. Screenwriter James Graham has turned the campaign into a compelling story — and nailed my mannerisms

Further reading

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