The sight of an unelected official giving a solo press conference about their private conduct in the 10 Downing Street Rose Garden was bizarre.
Still, how else was Dominic Cummings to be questioned? He is not a minister who can be quizzed as part of the day to day business in the Commons.
Alongside questions surrounding Cumming’s breach of lockdown the awkward press conference on Monday evening also illustrated a deeper issue; namely that Cummings now occupies an unprecedented position in British politics where he wields a great deal of power while not being subject to the scrutiny of parliament. That he and Boris seem to have a particular disdain for the norms of accountability and scrutiny merely compounds a fundamental structural issue – that the UK constitution is struggling more than ever to contain the growing presidentialisation of its politics along the American model.
