In a late night tweet from the BBC’s Laura K, Boris Johnson’s top aide Dominic Cummings confirmed that his tenure in government will be over by Christmas.
This produced wild celebrations in and around government, with ministers messaging like mad when they found out it was true. “Ding dong,” said one.
Cummings was not without his fans in the Boris Johnson administration though, among some of those he worked most closely with. He liked to shake things up and he brought energy. “He’s got some good ideas,” says a minister and former foe.
The Cummings media persona is, to some extent, also misleading. He has a sense of humour. Look at his gift down the years for driving opponents round the twist.
What will he do next? Thoughts turn to a memoir. He can write and think, and he knows a lot about where the bodies are buried. His infamous blogs were often rather interesting, if in need of editing and cutting in half from the top down.
The scope for him spilling the beans on what went on in his years with Boris from Vote Leave onwards is obvious. Ministers he tangled with wouldn’t enjoy the score-settling, and there will be envy if he scores a big advance for a book.
The problem with any Cummings tome will be one of execution. Imagine the book editor and agent trying to explain that four chapters on Bismarck is probably too much.
That aside, we haven’t heard the last of him.
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