Johnson adviser Cummings to quit by end of 2020

Boris Johnson's chief adviser Dominic Cummings will leave his job by the end of 2020 in a move that may trigger a clearout of Brexit hardliners from Downing Street, according to reports.

The news of Cummings's departure follows the resignation of Lee Cain, Johnson's former communications chief and another leading member of the Vote Leave "gang" that has directed policy and strategy since Johnson became prime minister.

Reports on Thursday night said Cummings was set to leave and he told the BBC: "My position hasn't changed since my January blog" which said he planned to make himself "largely redundant" by the end of 2020. Earlier in the week he said rumours he was planning to resign were untrue.

Cummings joined Downing Street as the most powerful member of Johnson's team after Johnson won the Tory party leadership in July 2020. He had worked closely with Johnson as the strategy chief for the Vote Leave campaign that won the EU referendum in 2016.

He has been a contentious figure as Johnson's most powerful adviser, showing disdain for Tory MPs and warning a "hard rain" was going to fall on the civil service.

Cummings's journey from London to his parents' house in Durham during the first Covid-19 lockdown has been blamed for undermining the government's social distancing policies. Johnson turned down calls for Cummings's resignation at the time.

Reports said Cain and Cummings had become the chief suspects of an inquiry into the leaking of plans for a second English lockdown. The leak forced the government to make a rushed announcement over a weekend.

Cummings's departure is the culmination of a week of intrigue. Johnson's fiancee and former Tory communications chief Carrie Symonds is reported to have opposed Cain's promotion to become chief of staff, setting off ructions. An exodus of Vote Leave figures from Johnson's team now looks probable.

"It very much feels that way," an adviser told the Financial Times. There are a lot of unhappy people. it's a big mess."

The news was greeted with cheer by some Tory backbenchers, many of whom have despaired about the government's response to the Covid-19 crisis.

Senior backbencher Roger Gale told the Guardian: "This is a distraction that cannot and should not be allowed to take place, and the prime minister has got to get a grip on it. For my money Cummings is a liability."

The infighting erupted as the government was locked in talks with the EU to try to agree a post-Brexit trade deal with time running out. Johnson's chief Brexit negotiator David Frost was said to have considered quitting after Cain resigned but is apparently staying.

Labour leader Keir Starmer said: "'Millions of people will be … scratching their heads, saying, ‘What on earth is going on?’ We’re in the middle of a pandemic, we’re all worried about our health and our families, we’re all worried about our jobs, and this lot are squabbling behind the door of No 10.'”