According to a new book on the former prime minister, Michael Gove compared Dominic Cummings’ relationship with Boris Johnson to that of Jeeves and Wooster and “a Lord Protector looking after an inexperienced king.”
The first excerpt from Sir Anthony Seldon’s insider account of Johnson’s time at Downing Street also cites The Insider as saying that the former Tory leader was “crazy” at the thought of his failure, and David Cameron and George Osborne could laugh at it. .
IN Johnson at 10: The Inside Storydescribes Sir Anthony, who has written 10 political biographies of every prime minister since Margaret Thatcher, a turbulent period when Johnson and his senior aide, Dominic Cummings, worked together.
In the first excerpt, published in the Times, he claims that on the eve of the 2019 general election, two advisers to the former prime minister, Mr History, “if he does not follow their advice.”
The book adds that the couple would then remind him that his predecessors, Mr. Cameron and Mr. Osborne, “would like nothing more than to see him fail”.
“The prospect of these two laughing at him will drive him crazy. He went from “Oh my God, we need to slow down” to “I’ll show these bastards,” says the insider.
After winning the 2019 election, Mr. Johnson felt less inclined to listen to the pair, but he believed the 80-seat majority had more to do with his campaign than with Mr. Cummings’ analysis and research.
But the book quotes Mr. Gove, who claims that the former prime minister “didn’t think of topping the number 10 after the landslide, rather than relying almost entirely on the Houses.”
Mr Gove adds: “Though he resented that the House treated him, if not as Jeeves and Worcester, then perhaps as Lord Protector to a young and inexperienced king.”
Sir Anthony’s book describes a deeply mistrustful and jealous relationship between the then Prime Minister and Mr. Cummings, which only worsened over time.
“Boris did not want to be treated like a wild thoroughbred after the election, with a strong whip and bridle to keep him. Home can be offensive and rude. Some days the prime minister could laugh about it, but other days he couldn’t,” Gove said.
The book depicts Mr. Cummings as instrumental in the resignation of Sajid Javid as chancellor at the start of Mr. Johnson’s tenure, whom he saw as an ally of Carrie Johnson.
It got to the point where Mr. Johnson felt he was being sidelined by his advisers, with officials saying they were more likely to report to Mr. Cummings or Mr. Kane than to the prime minister. Johnson at 10 am.
He quotes a special counsel who claimed that Mr. Johnson said, “I have to be in control. I am the leader. I am the king who makes the decisions.”
The consultant adds: “It was completely non-functional.”
The book also claims that Mr. Johnson’s relationship with his then-girlfriend and now wife, Carrie Symonds, was dominated by “paranoia”.
The assistant said, “He turned us all against each other. He told us that it was impossible to deal with her, she was crazy, crazy, and he could not control her, he would do as she wanted. Then he went upstairs and told her that we were impossible and he couldn’t control us. He liked to pour gasoline on both sides and watch what happened to the fire.”
Eventually, in November 2020, Johnson fired both Kane and Cummings.
Source: I News
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