Dominic Cummings: Boris Johnson has sacrificed credibility for power by backing him - Martyn McLaughlin

Boris Johnson entrusted the architect of Vote Leave, Dominic Cummings, with forging a new form of government, but the two men have discovered to their peril it is easier to break things than it is to build them, writes Martyn McLaughlin

Whatever the future of Dominic Cummings, the damage to Boris Johnson is irreparable.

In these times of long days and short tempers, it is hard not to be swept away by the rising tide of fury cast by Dominic Cummings, a man whose gravitational pull has torn British politics from its moorings, leaving those on board counting the fathoms as they stoop to uncharted depths. Even in the murk, some things are clear, not least the naivety of presuming that a force so wilfully anarchic could ever be tamed.

Barely ten months have passed since Mr Cummings was appointed to a senior government post with a reach and clout unprecedented in modern times. To a fractured party craving vigour and the thrill of the new after the suffocating impasse of Brexit, his disruptive tropes represented an irresistible seducement; to a grasping void of a Prime Minister, whose only sincere political ambition was the wielding of power for power’s sake, he promised to be an indispensable enforcer.

At any rate, that was the grand plan. Boris Johnson believed that this self-professed agent of chaos could help forge a new architecture of government, one which would diminish parliament and even the cabinet to the status of mere cogs. For a while, it seemed to be working after a crude, blunt fashion. Sajid Javid discovered the price to be paid for having the temerity to defend the autonomy of his office, and further targets were being lined up in the corridors of Whitehall.

But like so many governments before it, the Johnson administration has discovered it is entirely at the mercy of external events, and that chaos - the pure, unfiltered kind - does not care much for the designs of ideologues.

The advent of catastrophe, especially one as era-defining as the Covid-19 pandemic, required Mr Johnson to change tack and govern in a new way. Instead, he has lurched further into the Trumpian wastelands, a place where compromise and contrition are admissions of weakness. Why shift down the gears, the reasoning goes, when you can tear off the brake pads?

What other conceivable explanation is there for the extraordinary press conference held by Mr Cummings in a domain ordinarily reserved for leaders of state? A thorn among the Downing Street roses, he married the old Conservative values with the new, showing how individualism and exceptionalism need not be mutually exclusive.

Mr Cummings’ prepared statement presumably went through more drafts than the Magna Carta, yet still produced an account so muddled and prevaricating, it is remarkable that anyone thought it would have the desired effect of eliciting the public’s sympathy, particularly when its narrator commands all the warmth and relatability of Nosferatu.

In his defence, no one expected an oratorical masterclass, but this is a man said to possess an almost preternatural gift for the new mode of politics, where messaging, themes, and optics triumph over policy. Even he, however, could not preempt the odd situationist spectacle of sitting at a trestle table, deflecting questions like an embattled judge of a village agricultural show, bristling at suggestions of subterfuge in the prize cucumber category.

Beyond the shirking of repentance or regret, the spectacle threw up countless questions, such as why Mr Cummings - seemingly so eager not to burden his famously workaholic employer - did not see fit to consult the cabinet secretary about his travel plans, or the curious rationale which led him to return to work while his wife was symptomatic.

The most perplexing of the lot, however, is how such a circus was ever allowed to pitch its tent in the first place. The responsibility for that lies squarely with Mr Johnson, who is fast discovering to his peril the difference between power and authority. The story has always been about the prime minister.

His 80-strong majority - the largest of any Tory prime minister in more than three decades - could never disguise the moral vacuum at the heart of his premiership. A leader lacking in character or solemnity is invariably doomed, and Mr Johnson has all but made sure of it by sacrificing the credibility of his government to shield Mr Cummings.

It has been startling, even by the Prime Minister’s slipshod standards, to see how he has abdicated responsibility so brazenly in recent days. At Monday evening’s daily coronavirus briefing, he attempted to cast Mr Cummings as an anti-hero. “I understand why people may wish to see resignations," he said. "But I think people will make up their minds about what Mr Cummings had to say."

The public, if Mr Johnson is not yet aware, have made up their minds, and increasingly, their ire is focusing on him. If his renowned feel for the mood of the people has taken a temporary leave of absence, his plummeting approval ratings will remind him of his folly.

Of course, there have been a flurry of supportive tweets from Matt Hancock, Michael Gove, Dominic Raab and their ilk, but such brown-nosing only confirmed the dysfunction, and allayed any lingering doubts that in the grand Johnsonian scheme, senior ministers are wholly subservient to unelected, unaccountable aides.

Yet the growing unrest among Tory ranks and the resignation of Douglas Ross serve sharp reminders that there is a limit to the obsequiousness. There will be a sense of irony if the clamour becomes so loud that Mr Cummings eventually jumps, or is pushed, but the truth is, it does not matter much at this stage. The political damage is done and it is irreparable.

What must Mr Johnson make it all as he sees his Churchillian ambitions go up in smoke? He perhaps finds a selfish comfort in the midst of a pandemic, knowing that any threat to his leadership is not imminent. But it is coming. The grand plan is broken, and the great disruptor and his patron are left clinging on. Where else is there to go but down, down, into the deep.

A message from the Editor:Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our advertisers - and consequently the revenue we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription.Subscribe to scotsman.com and enjoy unlimited access to Scottish news and information online and on our app. With a digital subscription, you can read more than 5 articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. Visit https://www.scotsman.com/subscriptions now to sign up.

Our journalism costs money and we rely on advertising, print and digital revenues to help to support them. By supporting us, we are able to support you in providing trusted, fact-checked content for this website.

Joy Yates

Editorial Director