Dominic Cummings ruthlessly plotted Chancellor Sajid Javid’s downfall in Downing Street’s biggest power grab in decades, the Sunday People can reveal.
The plan meant Mr Javid was always earmarked to be axed in the Cabinet reshuffle despite the Prime Minister’s pleas for him to stay.
Boris Johnson’s Svengali devised an “offer he could only refuse”, forcing Mr Javid to resign – and making the unelected “adviser” the most powerful man in Government after the PM.
A No10 insider said Mr Javid was “seen as an obstacle in Downing Street’s economic strategy” and the PM knew asking Mr Javid to sack his Treasury team would leave him no choice.
It allows the PM and Mr Cummings to run the Treasury with new Chancellor Rishi Sunak branded a “stooge” by Labour.
(Image: WILL OLIVER/EPA-EFE/REX)
His replacement, Rishi Sunak, 39, is said to “tick the right boxes” with Mr Johnson’s plans to switch the balance of tax benefits from the rich to the less well-off, though critics have dubbed him Mr Cummings’ puppet.
Mr Javid’s removal was engineered in spite of support from Mr Johnson’s girlfriend Carrie Symonds.
The Prime Minister, who was reported by Downing Street officials to have made several attempts to persuade his former confidante to stay in post, knew that asking him to sack his entire Treasury team would leave the former Chancellor little choice.
He had game-planned the likely outcome with Mr Cummings as part of a takeover by Number 10 of key Treasury responsibilities for economic strategy.
“There was a danger of slipping back to the days of the ‘TB-GBs’ when Tony Blair and Gordon Brown were effectively running two rival government’s,” said the Downing Street source. “Boris and Dom were determined that would not happen.
“By offering Sajid to continue but only if he sacked his most loyal and trusted team they knew there was only one way to go.”
