Boris Johnson faces a growing revolt in his party over the behaviour of Dominic Cummings, his chief advisor.
At least 37 Tory MPs have called for Mr Cummings to quit – including one minister who has resigned.
As many as six cabinet ministers are thought to have privately told colleagues Mr Cummings should go.
And eight members of Boris Johnson’s cabinet have yet to publicly defend or express support for Mr Cummings.
The PM’s top aide is under pressure to resign after the Mirror revealed he, his wife and child had travelled 260 miles from his London home – while his wife had coronavirus symptoms – to stay in a house owned by his parents in Durham.
The government claimed Mr Cummings and his family isolated for 14 days while relatives brought him supplies.
But he admitted he had left that house to go on a trip to Barnard Castle 30 miles away around the end of his 14-day isolation.
At the time, Brits were advised not to drive long distances and to only take a walk, bike ride or cycle if leaving the house for exercise.
Boris Johnson defended Mr Cummings’ breach of the advice to “stay at home” and not travel, especially if suffering from the virus.
He claimed the aide “followed the instincts of every father and every parent… and I do not mark him down for that”.
But a string of Tory backbenchers are now turning on the strategy chief, urging him to quit.
Here are all the Tory MPs who are calling for Dominic Cummings to resign so far – and the ministers who have yet to back him in public.
What are your thoughts on the controversy? Email webnews@mirror.co.uk
Cabinet ministers who have publicly backed Dominic Cummings
- Boris Johnson – Prime Minister
- Rishi Sunak – Chancellor
- Dominic Raab – Foreign Secretary
- Priti Patel – Home Secretary
- Michael Gove – Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
- Matt Hancock – Health Secretary
- Alok Sharma – Business Secretary
- Brandon Lewis – Northern Ireland Secretary
- Oliver Dowden – Culture Secretary
- Anne-Marie Trevelyan – International Development Secretary
- Amanda Milling – Minister without Portfolio
Also attends cabinet:
- Steve Barclay – Chief Secretary to the Treasury
- Jacob Rees Mogg – Leader of the House of Commons
- Mark Spencer – Chief Whip
- Suella Braverman – Attorney General
Cabinet Ministers who do not appear to have publicly backed Dominic Cummings
- Robert Buckland – Justice Secretary
- Ben Wallace – Defence Secretary
- Liz Truss – Trade Secretary
- Therese Coffey – Work and Pensions Secretary
- George Eustice – Environment Secretary
- Alister Jack – Scotland Secretary
- Simon Hart – Wales Secretary
- Barones Evans of Bowes Park – Leader of the House of Lords
MPs who have called for Dominic Cummings to resign
Peter Aldous
“At a time when the Country must move on to the next stage of defeating Covid-19, of getting back to work whilst ensuring that there is not a second peak, there must be no distraction from this challenge. The Government should recognise what families have gone through and what people are thinking and saying. It is thus important that Dominic Cummings should now stand down.”
Steve Baker
“Enough is enough. I and others saved him once before when he was driving Vote Leave to implosion. Not today. Dominic Cummings must go before he does any more harm to the UK, the Government, the Prime Minister, our institutions or the Conservative Party.
“Time is up. It is time for Dom to resign so Boris can govern within the conventions and norms which will see us through. It is time to get competing expert advice, decent software and better decisions, end the lockdown and start a long, hard recovery.”
Harriet Baldwin
Former minister Harriett Baldwin said: “While I have every human sympathy with Dominic Cummings, I think there is a higher bar for members of the Government.
“If the Government wants people to follow the public health advice in order to protect our NHS and save lives, then members of the Government giving that advice, including the Prime Minister’s adviser, need to follow it too.
“The Government relies on moral authority to receive the consent of the people to such draconian reductions in their freedoms. Therefore, for the sake of future adherence to public health guidelines, I believe he should resign.”
Peter Bone
The Tory Brexiteer said Mr Cummings “has to go” because he broke the rules and has not apologised.
Speaking on Nigel Farage’s show on LBC, he said: “When an adviser becomes the story, the adviser has to go. Boris Johnson can carry on without Dominic Cummings if he goes but it will be hard if he stays.”
Elliot Colburn
The Conservative MP for Carshalton and Wallington, said he had written to the Prime Minister calling for Dominic Cummings to resign.
In his letter to Boris Johnson, Mr Colburn wrote: “I have received more emails on this than on any other issue since being elected – many hundreds of messages from concerned constituents – and I join them in that view.
“I feel it necessary to stress the importance of continued public trust and engagement with the measures being taken to overcome this crisis.
“At this critical time, as we start to relax some of the measures we have asked people to live with for many weeks now, we must ensure the public feel willing and able to continue social distancing and engage positively with those that continue to be in place to avoid a second spike.
“I fear this could undermine that effort.”
Damian Collins
“Dominic Cummings has a track record of believing that the rules don’t apply to him and treating the scrutiny that should come to anyone in a position of authority with contempt. The government would be better without him.”
Philip Davies
“It is admirable of the Prime Minister to be loyal to his staff and to seek to defend and support those who work for him. Dominic Cummings should now repay that loyalty to the Prime Minister by resigning his position for the good of the Prime Minister, the government and the country.”
Jackie Doyle-Price
The Tory MP for Thurrock posted on her Facebook page.
She said: “I have received a number of representation regarding the behaviour of Dominic Cummings and thought I should state my position.
The Government has been very clear in its message that we have had to Stay Home and Save lives.
“For some of us that instruction has come at great personal cost. Some people have lost their livelihoods. Some people have lost loved ones and been unable to say goodbye. In making real sacrifices in order to obey the Government’ instructions it is quite understandable that there is anger that Government figures have not done the same.
“When a Government is tainted with a ‘do as I say, not as I do’ attitude to the public, it loses its moral authority.”
Sir Roger Gale
“While as a father and as a grandfather I fully appreciate Mr Cummings’ desire to protect his child. There cannot be one law for the Prime Minister’s staff and another for everyone else.
“He has sent out completely the wrong message and his position is no longer tenable.”
Mark Garnier
“It is clear to me that despite his story, despite an element of politics in this, and despite his value to the government, his remaining in Number 10 now causes too many problems at multiple levels.
“For him to stay would be to reject the valiant efforts of millions of us all who have done what we can to squash this infection. His resignation is now the only way forward.”
…
“The guidance if sick is to stay at home – not any home, or someone else’s home, or even a second home. You must stay at you own home.
“He admitted to, firstly, going to Downing Street when he should have been self-isolating.
“He then, literally, packed his car with coronavirus and drove it to an area where there was relatively little infection.
“When he had recovered, he embarked on a bizarre road test of his ability to drive. This is in clear breach of the Highway Code rule 91 (fitness to drive) and rule 92 (eyesight).
“Aside from that, it was just plain dumb.”
James Gray
“Unless and until he can justify what he did, he should face the consequences of it and give up his role as a government adviser. Having him continuing at the heart of government undermines our credibility and the strength of our message.”
Robert Goodwill
“I’ve been contacted by over 400 constituents who, with one or two exceptions, have been critical of Mr Cummings and his statement yesterday has done nothing to convince them otherwise.
“I think that the best way for the Prime Minister, who I’m a massive fan of, to show he’s in charge of the situation is to relieve himself of Mr Cummings’ services.”
Stephen Hammond
An e-mail he apparently wrote to a constituent states: “It is clear that Mr Cummings has broken the guidelines which we all were instructed to follow. I find his explanation unconvincing. I am angry that so many have sacrificed so much for public safety and yet this man has decided his interpretation of “doing the right thing” overrode the clear instruction of Stay at Home. His selfish act has undermined our, and my, efforts to keep Wimbledon safe.
“Mr Cummings should of course have resigned as any honourable person would have done and not put everyone else in this wholly invidious position. I cannot defend the indefensible and I have no intention of doing so. I have always tried to do the best thing for Wimbledon and it is now served by Mr Cummings leaving his role.”
Mark Harper
“In these circumstances, as an absolute minimum, an apology should have been made and level of regret expressed. I am disappointed Mr Cummings did neither.”
…
“I would expect an adviser who had damaged the credibility of the Government’s central message so badly and had become the story to consider their position. Mr Cummings should have offered to resign, and the Prime Minister should have accepted his resignation.”
Simon Hoare
“With the damage Mr Cummings is doing to the Government’s reputation he must consider his position. Lockdown has had its challenges for everyone. It’s his cavalier “I don’t care; I’m cleverer than you” tone that infuriates people. He is now wounding the PM/Govt & I don’t like that”
Andrew Jones
The Harrogate Advertiser reported he wrote to constituents saying: “It seems clear to me that Mr Cummings has broken the guidelines which we were and are all expected to follow. For that reason I think that he should resign and if he does not do so then he should be dismissed.”
Simon Jupp
“Although I believe his actions were motivated by a father’s desire to do what he felt was necessary to protect his family in exceptional circumstances, if placed in the same situation I wouldn’t have made the same decisions and would have since considered my position.”
Tim Loughton
Told the BBC the defence of Mr Cummings is “deeply damaging” and “is seriously compromising” the government’s public health advice.
Saying he’s been “swamped” by e-mails he condemned Boris Johnson, telling the BBC: “What I wanted to hear was a proper justification of why what Dominic Cummings did was fine.
“I fear I didn’t get that and what’s more worrying is my constituents didn’t get that.”
Paul Maynard
He said he shared people’s “dismay” at the response, adding: “It is a classic case of ‘do as I say, not as I do’ – and it is not as if he was unfamiliar with guidance he himself helped draw up. It seems to me to be utterly indefensible and his position wholly untenable.”
Jason McCartney
He said while it was important for people to show compassion during the crisis, Mr Cummings had to go because the “perceived hypocrisy of the rule makers potentially threatens the success of any future measures” under a second wave of the coronavirus.
“We must have confidence that we are doing the right things for the right reasons and that we are all truly in it together. For that reason I believe Mr Cummings’ position is now untenable,” Mr McCartney said in a Facebook post.
Stephen Metcalfe
Sir Bob Neill
“I am in the process of responding to everyone who has emailed me concerning Dominic Cummings. I have also posted a statement on my website setting out my views on why he should now step down from his post, a message I have passed on to colleagues in Govt.”
Caroline Nokes
“I made my views clear to my whip yesterday. There cannot be one rule for most of us and wriggle room for others. My inbox is rammed with very angry constituents and I do not blame them. They have made difficult sacrifices over the course of the last 9 weeks.”
Mark Pawsey
“On the basis of what I heard, it is clear that while he believed he was acting within the letter of the law, he did the wrong thing and acted very much against the spirit of the lockdown rules.”
…
“As such, I believe that it is wrong that Mr Cummings remains in an important post in Government. I had hoped he that would tender his resignation of his own accord. As he has failed to do so, I now believe it is right for the Prime Minister to ask for his resignation. This is a position that I have communicated to my colleagues within the Conservative Party and the Government.”
Andrew Percy
Laurence Robertson
“Indeed, like many others, I have found the rules to be personally heart-wrenching. On 5th May, my father died of Coronavirus and the pain and guilt of my being unable to visit him as he fought for his life will haunt me for the rest of my days. I wouldn’t wish this situation on anyone, but I know that many of my constituents have suffered in the same or similar ways.
“However we are fighting against a world-wide pandemic and really do need to be all in this together.
“I have, therefore, spent yesterday and today urging the Prime Minister and all those closely connected to him, to recognise the strength of feeling which exists on this issue and to dismiss Mr Cummings without further delay. For now, I will not be playing this matter out in public, but am working on the issue through the effective channels which exist.”
Douglas Ross
“I have constituents who didn’t get to say goodbye to loved ones, families who could not mourn together, people who didn’t visit sick relatives because they followed the guidance of the government.
“I cannot in good faith tell them they were all wrong and one senior advisor to the government was right.”
Alec Shelbrooke
John Stevenson
“Carlisle and the country have sacrificed a lot over the last few weeks. People in positions of power have added responsibility-Mr Cummings holds such a position. Therefore in my view in the interests of the country Mr Cummings should resign.”
Bob Stewart
“On the face of it Mr Cummings seems to have been out of line to break lockdown instructions. Personally, I felt rather ashamed as the rest of us are all bidden to obey the rules and those directives appear to have been broken by him.
“Clearly there is some dispute… The truth is that, whether Mr Cummings broke or didn’t do the right thing, he certainly destroyed the spirit of the rules by what he did. It will make it very difficult for us, the rest of the population, to accept the largely voluntary restraints we have lived under for 9 weeks. I apologise for that because those rules remain in place and we should all still abide by them. I am afraid I believe his position is thus untenable.”
Julian Sturdy
“I don’t think this can go on much longer. It is damaging the Government’s reputation. You can’t have one rule for Government advisers and one for everyone else. His future does seem to look more and more untenable moving forward. The Prime Minister needs to clarify Mr Cummings’ position in a statement as soon as possible.”
Robert Syms
The Poole MP tweeted: “The Government has to explain test, track and trace and the next phase of lifting lockdown next week. Whatever the merits of a Government adviser, they should never be the story or it detracts from the central message which is to get us out of this crisis. The adviser should go.”
Martin Vickers
David Warburton
Tory MP David Warburton said his own father died alone as a result of the coronavirus lockdown, and the Dominic Cummings story gives an impression of “double standards”.
He told BBC Breakfast: “People have made sacrifices… Instinct hasn’t really been part of it.” He added: “Ideally, if he broke the rules then he obviously should be subject to the same kind of consequences as anybody else who broke the rules… To me, enough is really enough, I think he’s damaging the Government and the country that he’s supposed to be serving.”
Craig Whittaker
“I totally agree that Dominic Cummings position is untenable. I’m sure he took the decision in the best interests of his family but like every decision we take we also have to take responsibility for those decisions. You cannot advise the nation one thing then do the opposite.”
William Wragg
“We cannot throw away valuable public & political good will any longer.
“It’s humiliating & degrading to their office to see ministers put out agreed lines in defence of an advisor.
“This is a time of national emergency and our focus must be unrelenting. We owe it to the nation.”
Jeremy Wright
Conservative former attorney general Jeremy Wright wrote on his website that it could be argued that Mr Cummings did not technically breach the lockdown laws, although he did call for further explanation.
“However, in determining what should happen now, technical compliance cannot be the only consideration,” he continued.
“Our continued success in combating the virus may well rely on more of that and Mr Cummings’ actions and his justification of them will, in my judgment, make it less likely that others will continue to interpret those exceptional circumstances clauses restrictively.
“This is more important than the position of any individual in Downing Street and therefore, fairly or unfairly, I have concluded that it would be better for Mr Cummings to leave his position at Downing Street.”
Other senior figures calling for him to go
Scottish Tory leader Jackson Carlaw
MPs who’ve voiced criticism but not explicitly called for him to go yet:
Lee Anderson
“I will not accept trial by media when a persons whole future is at stake…. I suspect there will be a few more twists to this story over the next few days and I reserve judgement until I have all the facts.
“We cannot have one rule for one and another rule for the rest of us. Cummings should have a chance to come back on this as it is clear that he travelled to another house to live with his family but it is not clear if he came into contact with other members of his family or been out and about as suggested. If its the latter then he should go.”
Tracey Crouch
The ex-minister Tracey Crouch posted on Facebook: “I am not sure I have felt, in my ten years as an MP, so frustrated, cross, confused or impotent as I do now.”
She added: “I have had to tell people they can’t go to funerals, say goodbye to the ones they love, see the family newborns that they will grow to love, visit the graves of parents, siblings or worse, children, and visit friends who are dying.
“Should Dominic resign or be sacked? This is not for me to say and I don’t recall calling for anyone in any party to go over mistakes.”
Ms Crouch continued: “I am pretty peed off though… [it] leaves a bitter taste in my mouth.”
George Freeman
Demanded a “public apology”, adding: “I fear this Cummings lockdown truancy saga will mark the end of public trust in and respect for the calls for unity in sacrifice from Downing Street. Which in turn will undermine virus control. Meaning an extended lockdown & more sacrifice & suffering.”
Damian Green
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