Tim Montgomerie: 'Every Dominic Cummings relationship doesn't end well'

14 November 2020, 00:31

Ex-Boris Johnson adviser Tim Montgomerie reacts to Dominic Cummings' departure from Downing Street

Former Boris Johnson adviser Tim Montgomerie has told LBC that "every Dominic Cummings relationship doesn't end well and doesn't end quietly", saying he fears things could get "uglier still".

Speaking to Andrew Castle on LBC, Mr Montgomerie said: "The reports that have reached me talk of some very blue, very loud language being shouted around Number 10.

"I think it has got very ugly very quickly, and I fear it's going to get an awful lot uglier still.

"I think it became obvious that once the relationship had ended, the idea that he would be able to hang around given the feelings of betrayal and disappointment on both sides, was for the birds."

It comes amid the news that Boris Johnson's adviser Dominic Cummings has quit Number 10 with immediate effect.

Mr Cummings previously said that "rumours of me threatening to resign are invented" after speculation that he would follow communications director Lee Cain in leaving No 10.

However, he said that his "position hasn't changed since my January blog" when he wrote that he hoped to make himself "largely redundant" by the end of 2020.

Peter Cardwell: 'Writing's been on the wall for a while' for Cummings

Andrew Castle then asked the former advisor whether Dominic Cummings will expect to be "well and truly kicked on his way down."

Mr Montgomerie replied: "That may well be the case, but he is not afraid to kick back either.

"I don't know quite when it will happen, but I imagine, he knows an awful lot of stuff about the Prime Minister that he may not want the public to focus on.

Read more: Key career moments from the PM's right-hand man

Read more: Former special adviser tells LBC 'writing has been on the wall for a while' for Cummings

"There will be stuff that the Prime Minister will have confided in these advisors who are not estranged from him that he won't want laundered in public.

"However, I fear it may well be laundered in public.

"One of the reasons I suggested that Dominic Cummings should not have been afforded the influence he had is that every relationship he has with people he work for tend to go wrong eventually, and they don't go wrong quietly."

James O'Brien caller: Dominic Cummings is leaving because of Covid impact

Asked what Boris Johnson will feel he has lost with the departure of two of his key advisors, Mr Montgomerie said: "He has lost the person a lot of Brexiteers and traditional Conservatives saw as the guard of their beliefs.

"I think there will be a lot of suspicion now that Boris may go wobbly on issues that helped the Tories win the last election."

There were calls for Mr Cummings to quit earlier this year when he flouted lockdown measures by controversially driving up and down the UK despite having Covid-19 symptoms.

Mr Cummings was widely criticised in May after making a 260-mile journey during the coronavirus lockdown to his parents' house in Durham.

He was spotted in the city - almost 300 miles away from his London home - despite having had symptoms of coronavirus, a joint investigation by the Mirror and The Guardian revealed.

It was confirmed on 30 March Mr Cummings was self-isolating after experiencing symptoms, and the government had told the nation people should be staying at home, and not be visiting elderly relatives who were at greater risk from the virus.

It has been reported Mr Cummings has told colleagues he travelled to Durham after he and his wife developed Covid-19 symptoms so his parents could look after their young son.