Weirdo, political misfit or Boris Johnson’s brain? Who is the real Dominic Cummings?

As the prime minister’s chief adviser prepares to leave his position by the end of the year, Sean O'Grady looks at the man behind the Durham lockdown furore and his controversial history

More than anything, Cummings is a committed Eurosceptic (AFP/Getty)

Dominic Cummings is not a Conservative. Despite being “chief adviser” to one Tory leader, Boris Johnson, and “director of strategy” for another (Iain Duncan Smith, a brief and unhappy liaison), despite delivering Brexit and the 2019 election victory, despite being married to an editor at The Spectator and politically hitched to Michael Gove for 15 years, and despite generally kicking around right-wing circles, he is not a member of any party, never has been, and, in point of fact, cordially loathes all politicians. This, by the way, does include Conservatives, many of whom he has disparaged as “public school bluffers”: which seems kind of ironic right now. Perhaps Cummings is his own one-man entryist movement, dedicated to Cummings-ism.

The dislike is mutual. David Cameron, who never had the displeasure of meeting him, famously described Cummings as a “career psychopath”. Theresa May had no time for him or Gove. Sir Roger Gale, veteran Tory backbencher, called him an “unelected, foul-mouthed oaf”, while in May, following the Barnard Castle debacle, scores of Conservative MPs campaigned to get “Dom” sacked. Nigel Farage, a rival in the Eurosceptic universe, said he was one of “the nastiest individuals I have had the misfortune to meet” (and he’s met a few), and someone “I would not put in charge of the local sweet shop”.

Dominic Cummings arrives at his London home surrounded by photographers (Getty)