Dominic Cummings and Alastair Campbell: two very different advisers who ‘became the story’

Both came to No 10 with reputations for spin. But it’s unlikely that the Vote Leave architect will enjoy the same longevity as those before him

Campbell (left) became inextricably bound to the Blair administration but after 31 October Cummings will cease to be the story (Getty)

Dominic Cummings is the latest prime ministerial adviser to “become the story”. The last one to become so famous was Alastair Campbell, so it is worth comparing and contrasting.

Campbell was Tony Blair’s spokesperson but tried to retreat from a frontline role of briefing journalists to a backroom one of advising on strategy. Cummings started as a strategy adviser but seems unable to resist talking to journalists.

Campbell suffered from the mystique that surrounded him when New Labour, in opposition, became so popular that it won the biggest election victory since the war. He was assumed to have special powers of “spin”, and to be able to influence the media by bullying and cunning, but the truth was that Blair was an outstanding politician who was in the right place at the right time. Campbell is an exceptional communicator, who had Blair’s absolute confidence. He was forceful and passionate, although I never thought the charge of bullying was justified: journalists tended to give as good as they got.

But the reputation for spin increasingly acted as a drag on his effectiveness. Any crisis for the Blair government quickly became a story about what Campbell had said to whom. Hence his attempt to step back from the front line. But he couldn’t become unfamous, certainly not while being so central to making the case for military action in Iraq, and the myth of his media manipulation intensified the political damage to Blair from the war’s unpopularity.

Cummings likewise came to No 10 with a reputation. He was the architect of victory for Vote Leave in 2016, with a nonconformist personality, an obsession with data-driven campaigning, and contempt for conventional politicians. His mystique was enhanced when his character was played by Benedict Cumberbatch in the docudrama of the referendum.

We know little about the precise nature of Cummings’ relationship with Boris Johnson. They worked together in the referendum, but he had been special adviser to Michael Gove at education, and so he sits as uncomfortably across their breach as Campbell did across that between Blair and Gordon Brown.

But there the similarities end. Cummings is a creative destroyer who seems to relish causing mayhem in ways he thinks will promote the Brexit cause. He is not in this for the long haul: Johnson has granted him total power until 31 October. Whatever happens then, Cummings will suddenly cease to be the story.

Yours,

John Rentoul

Chief political commentator