No job offer made to Dominic Cummings in meetings with PM, Downing Street says
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said a ‘private political discussion’ had taken place, but no job offer was made.
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.No job offer was made to Dominic Cummings during a meeting with Rishi Sunak, Downing Street has said.
The former Vote Leave campaign director previously claimed the Prime Minister had sought a “secret deal” with him in a bid to win next year’s election.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said a “private political discussion” had taken place, but Mr Cummings was not offered a job.
The pair were said to have spoken in London in December 2022 and again over dinner in North Yorkshire in July, in meetings kept secret from some of Mr Sunak’s closest allies.
Mr Cummings told the Sunday Times he was only prepared to offer his help if Mr Sunak would commit to prioritising the “most critical things”, citing nuclear weapons infrastructure, future pandemics, Ministry of Defence procurement, artificial intelligence (AI) and “broken core Government institutions”.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Mr Sunak’s spokesman said: “It was a political meeting, I wouldn’t have any more details than that. I think they (special advisers) have been clear there wasn’t a job offer made.”
He added: “This is a private political discussion, I think my political colleagues have made clear it was about politics and campaigning, I can only point you to that detail.
“Those sorts of discussions are not required to be disclosed, I think the only exception is for senior media executives.”
The former aide is said to have urged the Prime Minister to abandon his cautious economic approach, settle the NHS strikes and double the threshold at which people pay the 40p rate of income tax from £50,271 to £100,000.
Mr Cummings told the paper: “He wanted a secret deal in which I delivered the election and he promised to take Government seriously after the election.
“But I’d rather the Tories lose than continue in office without prioritising what’s important and the voters.
“The post-2016 Tories are summed up by the fact that Sunak, like (Boris) Johnson, would rather lose than take Government seriously. Both thought their MPs agreed with them, and both were right.”
Labour’s shadow paymaster general Jonathan Ashworth said: “After promising to restore integrity to Downing Street, he’s secretly begging Mr Barnard Castle to run Downing Street again.
“From Cameron to Cummings, the Prime Minister is admitting he’s out of ideas and too weak to come up with his own.”
Liberal Democrat MP and chief whip Wendy Chamberlain has requested an investigation into the meetings and demanded to know why they were not declared “in the proper way”.
Given reports that major changes to Government policy were discussed that would impact on millions of people’s lives, from taxes to the NHS, the public deserves full transparency
In a letter to the Prime Minister’s ethics adviser, Sir Laurie Magnus, Ms Chamberlain (North East Fife) said: “As you will be aware, the Ministerial Code requires ministers to publish details of meetings held with external individuals where official business is discussed, including which areas of policy are discussed.
“According to the Sunday Times, Cummings called for significant changes in Government policy during the meeting, including an emergency budget, tax cuts and addressing NHS strikes.
“These reports raise serious concerns that the Prime Minister has breached the code by failing to declare the meetings in a proper way. As a result, will you be considering an inquiry into these meetings and the possibility of the Prime Minister breaching the code?
“We urgently need to know why these meetings weren’t declared in the proper way, and if any officials were present or informed. Given reports that major changes to Government policy were discussed that would impact on millions of people’s lives, from taxes to the NHS, the public deserves full transparency.”
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.