Inside Politics: Boris Johnson’s comms chief quits in major No 10 bust-up

The prime minister has risked the wrath of Dominic Cummings after deciding Lee Cain would not be getting the chief of staff role, writes Adam Forrest

Lee Cain (EPA)

Hugh Grant has revealed his own experience with coronavirus left him longing for close human contact to reignite his sense of smell. “You want to sniff strangers’ armpits,” the actor said. Boris Johnson is hoping the vaccine will bring us back within armpit-sniffing range of each other in 2021, but is asking for patience until then. Right now the PM has to get rid of a major stink at No 10. The bitter stench comes from Johnson’s director of communications Lee Cain, who has sensationally quit over his failure to land a promotion.

Inside the bubble

Our political editor Andrew Woodcock on what to look out for today:

Downing Street will host one of its now twice-weekly press conferences on coronavirus. The latest round of Brexit talks between David Frost and Michel Barnier on a trade deal are set to draw to an end in London with little sign of a breakthrough. And culture secretary Oliver Dowden has the rare treat of announcing an extra bank holiday to create a four-day weekend to celebrate the Queen’s platinum jubilee in 2022.

Daily briefing

CLUCKING HELL: Boris Johnson’s director of communications Lee Cain has quit in a major bust-up over his bid to become the No 10 chief of staff. The PM was persuaded that Cain – the Vote Leave staffer once employed to dress up as a chicken – was not chief of staff material. Cain reportedly flounced out several days ago, arguing he would be side-lined by the arrival of new TV spokeswoman Allegra Stratton. But the idea of Cain taking up a new chief of staff role was said to have been strongly opposed by Johnson’s fiancée Carrie Symonds. What does it mean for Cain’s mentor Dominic Cummings? No 10 said he would not be quitting over the row, but one Tory MP said Cummings had threatened to walk, telling the PM: “If I go, I’m taking these people with me” (referring to other aides from the Vote Leave campaign glory days). Senior Tories seem relieved. One cabinet minister told the BBC that Cain was “hardly Leo McGarry” – a reference to the chief of staff from The West Wing.

JIBBER JABBER: However distracting the Cain mutiny might be, Johnson has more important things to worry about. The UK has become the first country in Europe to pass 50,000 Covid deaths. “We’re not out of the woods yet,” said the PM. Johnson also urged everybody to get the vaccine once it becomes available – calling all the spurious arguments of anti-vaxxers “total nonsense”. Deputy chief medical officer Jonathan Van-Tam also tried to reassure over the jab, saying he would be at the “front of the queue” for one if he could be. Meanwhile, there are plans to buy 60 million rapid-result tests each month from the start of next year. According to The Telegraph, anyone who tests negative could also receive a “freedom pass” to go to the cinema or sports event. Elsewhere, talks have taken place about the four nations taking a joint approach to restrictions over Christmas. The Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish first ministers held a virtual meeting with Michael Gove to discuss a plan for the holidays.

BACK ON THE EUROSTAR: There’s been no breakthrough in Brexit negotiations this week, government officials have admitted. So trade talks are set to switch from London back to Brussels next week. Will this be the last trip on the Eurostar for David Frost’s team? Time is running out to meet the mid-November deadline set by the EU, and pessimism has well and truly returned. Irish foreign minister Simon Coveney said it was “quite possible [talks] could fall apart and we don't get a deal”, saying an agreement had to be struck next week or “we have real problems”. It comes amid revelations that a “haulier handbook” to prevent border meltdown on 1 January has been delayed and will not be ready for several weeks. Logistics bosses expressed their anger that a definitive guide to all the red tape will now not be available until 7 December.

ILL WIND BLOWS THIS WAY: Labour MPs are deeply unhappy that a Tory MP who has campaigned against wind farms is to become No 10’s “climate change champion”. Anne-Marie Trevelyan has been given the key job of leading next year’s COP26 conference in Glasgow. Labour pointed to Trevelyan’s support for fracking for shale gas and her claim people are “fed up to the back teeth” with onshore wind farms. The opposition party said the appointment was “disappointing but unsurprising”. Conservative MPs, meanwhile, are deeply unhappy about potential tax rises next year. The Office for Tax Simplification said £14bn could be raised by cutting exemptions and doubling rates on capital gains. The Treasury said the OTS suggestion “will be considered in due course”. One Tory backbencher said: “It has been made clear to Rishi that colleagues will not support it.”

MONEY FOR NOTHING: Labour is stepping up its attacks on alleged cronyism and the way money is getting dished out during the pandemic. Keir Starmer said the government has paid £130m to PR firms since January – including some with links to top Tories. The Labour leader also accused ministers of “spraying” money at PPE and testing companies “that don’t deliver”. Starmer also wants the report into allegations home secretary Priti Patel bullied staff to be published, after the PM’s own adviser on standards in public life Lord Evans complained that the long delay was “reducing people’s trust”. Labour’s shadow home secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds said it was a “disgrace” the findings had been “suppressed”. Speaking of (alleged) bad behaviour, Tory MP Colonel Bob Stewart was caught sticking his two fingers up at a government minister in the Commons. He flicked the V sign after Johnny Mercer said the pair had been friends for “far too long”.

HAIL TO THE CHIEF: Unfortunately for Lee Cain, there’s no vacancy at the White House he can apply for. Joe Biden has picked Ron Klain to be his chief of staff. Klain used to work for Al Gore and Barack Obama – and has the dubious honour of once being played by Kevin Spacey in a movie about the 2000 election. Meanwhile, officials have announced that all 5 million ballots in the state of Georgia will be recounted by hand – a decision that could delay the certification of results for several weeks. With Donald Trump still refusing to concede, one leading campaign finance attorney has claimed that Trump’s election defence fundraising campaign is a “slush fund”. Emails promising that money donated would help contest results in court also contain fine print indicating that much of the money will pay down campaign debts.

On the record

“Number one there’s mass testing and the other thing is now the realistic prospect of a vaccine – so you have two boxing gloves to pummel the disease in the weeks and months that follow.”

Boris Johnson on the double punch against Covid.

From the Twitterati

“Allegra Stratton would only take the job if she reported to the PM and not to Cain. Which felt like a demotion to Cain … he felt wholly undermined.”

Robert Peston on the power battle that Cain lost…

“Dominic Cummings is, I am told, very unhappy about Lee Cain’s departure, as his closest ally in No 10.”

…and Tom Newton-Dunn says Cummings feels he has lost the battle too.

Essential reading

Femi Oluwole, The Independent: No Brexiteer should be disappointed that Biden won the election

Andrew Grice, The Independent: The vaccine won’t stop the health vs economy debate

Katy Balls, The Spectator: What the latest No 10 row is really all about

Timothy O’Brien, Bloomberg: Why Trump really fears leaving the White House

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