The Week UK 01Feb2020

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Attheencouragementof the late Norman
Stone, hisOxford modernhistory tutor,
CummingstravelledtoMoscowin 1 994
to witness thenewworld beingcreated
behindthe old iron curtain.“Hewas
intense,veryclever,sociallyalittle bit
awkward,” recallsthejournalist Liam
Halligan,who offeredhimsomewhere
tostay. Initiallyjobless,Cummings
laterhelpedsetup anairline flyingfrom
Samara,on theVolga,to Vienna.It was
unsuccessful.“Itoncetookoff forgetting
itsonlypassenger,”helaterrecalled.

BackintheUKinthe late1990s,
Cummingsentered the world ofright-
wingpressure groups,becomingcampaign
director forBusinessforSterling,which
argued against joining the euro. Cummings
believed theEU was alumbering behemoth,buthe hasneverbeen
amember oftheConservative Party.In2004, hisinstinctiveview
thatpoliticiansare squanderersofpubliccashandhisdislikeof
bureaucracies werefusedinthe referendumcampaignthatmade
his name–on Tony Blair’splantocreatearegionalassemblyfor
northeast England.Blairhadreckonedwithout Cummings,who
helpedthe“No”campaigntoa78: 22 victorywithagiantinflat-
ablewhiteelephantandtheslogan:“Politicianstalk,we pay”.

Later,he retreatedtothe ramshackleouthouse athisparents’
farmnear Durham,wherehespenttwoyearsreading about
historyandscience,which heregardedasthekeys to solving
publ icpolicy problems.Healsoimmersed himselfintheart
ofcampaigning:amonghisheroesareBlair’spollingguru, the
latePhilipGould;and Bill
Clinton’sadviserJamesCarville
(whose three-wordcampaign
slogan, “Theeconomy,stupid”,
wasechoed byCummings’ later
callsto“TakeBackControl”
and“GetBrexitDone”).

In 2007 ,CummingscaughttheeyeofToryshadow minister
MichaelGove,who made him hisspecialadviser andlater
broughthimintoCameron’snew coalitiongovernmentto
overhaulEngland’seducationsystemandtakeon“the blob”–
theteachingestablishment, whichheblamed forlow standards.
By now, Cummingshadstarted writingdown histhoughts,
expoundingin sprawlingonlinetractshowamorerigorous
educationsystemcouldhelptosavethecountry’sills.“We need
what MurrayGell-Mann, thediscoverer ofthe quark,calls‘an
Odysseaneducation’thatintegratesknowledgefrommathsand
science,thehumanitiesandsocialsciences,”hewrotein2014.

In 2011,hemarried MaryWakefield.They have oneson;
friendssayCummingsisadoting father.Wakefield’sfather owns
ChillinghamcastleinNorthumberland butthe couple,who own
ahouse in Islington,donot enjoyalavishlifestyle.“Typically
English–asset rich, cashpoor, ”says onefriend. Cummings,who
has railed against officials earning six-figure salaries,earns just
under£100,000, less thanother senior No.10staff.The couple’s
relationship wasdepicted inaChannel4film on the Brexit
referendum, starringBenedictCumberbatch. “Because of the
film,people seeMary as thesweetone,”says Gray. “She hates
that. If either of them is Machiavellian, it’s her.”

Cameron blocked Cummings from enteringgovernmentfor fear
that hewas too confrontational–and though he laterrelented,
allowing CummingstojoinGove, that snub cemented the
couple’s “deep dislikeofDaveand the gang”, Gray recalls. “I
rememberthin king the dayafter thereferendum,‘Well, that’s
what happens if youf*** with Mary andDom.’” David Laws,
aformerLib Dem ministerwho worked with Cummingsatthe
Department forEducation, witnessedhisabrasive style.“Ithink

he’sgenuinelyinterestedinserious

policyissues,” hesays –but“hecan be

unnecessarilyrude, hectoringandcreate

aclimateoffear.”By2014,Cameron

wastiringofthe fact thathiseducation

reforms hadbecome“toxic”withvoters,

partly thanks toCummings’warwith the

teachingprofession.Cummingsjumped

firstin201 4 –Cameronlaterlabelled him

a“careerpsychopath”–andreturnedto

hisbunker,whileGovewasshuffled out

ofEducation.Twoyearslater,Cummings

would return asthe PM’snemesis,

workingwithJohnsonand Goveto

deliverBrexitinthe2016 referendum

by campaigningon EU“waste”,and

exploitingimmigrationfearswithafalse

claimthat Turkeywas aboutto join the

EU.“Whathe isbrilliantat doingis

creatingakindofguerrillawarfare against the establishment,”

saysCraigOliver,who helpedrun theRemaincampaign.“He

foundtheweakspotsandprobedthemrelentlessly.”

CummingsandJohnsonhavenowcarriedtheirpartnershipinto

No.10. NominallyJohnson’s “assistant”,Cummingsactsashis

chiefadviserandenforcer.He hiresandfires staffand sets the

tone,focusing ondeliveringBrexitand thethreethingshe says

people actuallycareabout:theNHS,crimeandendingausterity.

To some,hecanberuthless (critics citehis sackingofayoung

Treasuryadviser, SoniaKhan, whowasmarched offthe premises

bypolice)–but toothers,heinspiresloyalty. SirMarkSedwill,

Britain’stopcivilservant, hasputoffaplantobecome Britain’s

ambassador toWashington tohelpdeliver hisreforms.

Cummings’strategy ofclosing

downParliamentlast October

to forcethrough ano-deal Brexit

was blocked bytheSupreme

Court, and couldhave

been disastrousforJohnson

hadtheLibDemsand theSNPnotobligedbyagreeingto asnap

election. “He’snotasoothsayer,”saysone insider.“Hespent

agestellinguswe’dbe toast ifwedidn’tdeliver Brexiton31

October.In fact,hewas completely wrong: the Get BrexitDone

messagewonthe election.”Althoughhe advises Johnson across

allaspectsofgovernment,insiders sayit isimportanttostrip

awaythe“myth” andrecognisethat insomeareas,he isless

influentialthanothers.AfterlosingarecentbattlewithChancellor

SajidJavid, Cummingshastakenalowerprofile on theeconomy,

andheisincreasingly lettingotherssortoutthe detailsof Brexit.

Hisnewfocusis onputtingscienceattheheartofgovernment

andensurin gpoliticiansdeliver whatthey promise.His

inspiration is theUSgovernment’sManhattanProject, which

created thefirstatomicbomb. Hewants to setup acivilian

version of the US Defence AdvancedResearchProjects Agency

(formerlyknownasArpa),pursuing “high-risk,high-return

projectsthat markets won’t fund”. HisWhatsApp account

profile says: “Get Brexitdone,thenArpa.”

Cummings recognises that hisrelentless style hasatime limit.

He suffers fromamuch-discussed mystery ailmentthat causes

abdominalpain; he hassuggested he might quit afterayear.

JonathanPowell, Blair’s formerchief of staff,wishes Cummings

well in hiseffortstooverhaulthe st atebut f ears he is on course

for acrash. “Onthe basis of myexperience,the sensi blething for

an unelectedofficial in No. 10to do is keepalow profile,” he

says.“I give hi m12monthsmax.Ifyou try to be in the papers

ever yday, your political life expectancyisshort–and like

Rasputin,you end upon thebottom of th eRiverNevainchains.”

Alongerversion of this articl eappeared in theFinancialTimes.

©Financia lTimes Ltd2020.

Thelastword

1February2020 THE WEEK

MaryWakefieldandCummings:notsweet?

“He isn’tasoothsayer. He spent ages telling

us we’d be toast if we didn’t deliver Brexit on

31 October. He was completely wrong”