The Career Psychopath
"Never attempt to win by force what can be won by deception"
"I'm not interested in preserving the status quo; I want to overthrow it"
Niccolo Machiavelli
I've always had a fascination, a thing, for interesting characters. Big personalities. Folks with great stories. Weirdos. Crazies. Straights. Artists. Footballers. Rock 'n' rollers. Writers. Whether real life or fictional, their back pages fill my bookshelves and my imagination.
One of the most interesting characters around presently - and bear with me on this - is Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Chief Adviser Dominic Cummings.
Cummings is described as a political strategist, and is despised by many in politics, even by those on his own side, though this is hard to define given that he claims never to have been a member of a political party, describing his political views as "not Tory, libertarian, 'populist' or anything else". However, given his role in the Vote Leave campaign and the fact that he currently advises a Tory Prime Minister, I think it's safe to say that he would lean more towards the right, and LBC placed him second in their 'Top 100 Most Influential Conservatives of 2019'.
He is a product of Oxford University, graduating in 1994 having studied Ancient and Modern History. Cummings has been said to be a "Russophile", speaks fluent Russian, is obsessed with Fyodor Dostoevsky and the Leo Tolstoy novel 'Anna Karenina', and after graduation spent nearly four years in Russia working on - in his own words - "various projects". When people talk about Russian interference in our democracy, perhaps they ought to pay this some mind.
On returning to the UK, Cummings entered politics for the first time in 1999, cutting his anti-EU teeth as first Director of Research and then Campaign Director of Business for Sterling while involved in the campaign to stop Britain joining the Euro.
Following on from his spell with Business for Sterling, Cummings was appointed Director of Strategy for the Tory party by then leader Iain Duncan Smith, tasked with driving forward the party's modernisation programme, a gig which ended in frustration after just eight months, with Cummings describing Duncan Smith as "incompetent". It is perhaps telling that Cummings does not refer to this spell under Duncan Smith after leaving Business for Sterling, just that he worked on "various projects" between 2003 and 2007, though he is keen to flag up his work during 2004-05 in trying to prevent the EU constitution from being enacted.
In 2007, he then began working for Michael Gove first in opposition, and then in the Department for Education where he became Gove's Chief of Staff. And it was during this time that he established his reputation for not suffering fools, and for the propensity to use dark arts to get his way. However, he soon began to feel resentment towards the civil service following their blocking of some of his proposed reforms, and branded a loose coalition of civil servants and teachers "the blob". He also took aim at a number of senior politicians, deliciously branding David Davis "thick as mince" and "lazy as a toad", while arch-Brexiteer Nigel Farage has said "he has never liked me. He can't stand the ERG. I can't see him coming to any accommodation with anyone".
It was while working for Gove that Cummings began to seriously develop his thinking around educational reform, the one area in which he seems to be genuinely passionate, writing an essay entitled 'Some thoughts on education and political priorities', which was described by Patrick Wintour of the Guardian as "either mad, bad or brilliant - and probably a bit of all three".
Cummings had a good working relationship with Gove, it was probably a case of opposites attract, something noted by Wintour: "Gove, polite to a fault, would often feign ignorance of his adviser's methods, but knew full well the dark arts that Cummings deployed to get his master's way".
However, in 2014 and ahead of the 2015 General Election, Cummings chose to leave his job with Gove with the intention of exploring the potential of setting up a free school, leaning on work that he'd done with the New Schools Network in 2009 and 2010.
In their 2015 General Election manifesto, the Tories committed to holding a referendum on the UK's membership of the European Union, and David Cameron went on to lead them to a surprise win with a small majority. And Cameron quickly took that commitment to a referendum of Europe and made it policy, setting a date of 23rd June 2016.
And with his anti-EU CV, Cummings made his next move, becoming Vote Leave's Campaign Director in October 2015. Cummings based his leave strategy on four key messages: "do talk about immigration"; "do talk about business"; "don't make the referendum final"; and "do keep mentioning the Charter of Fundamental Rights and the over-reach of the European Union's Court of Justice". He also coined the 'take back control' slogan. However, within five months, both Cummings and Vote Leave's CEO Matthew Elliott left following reported internal wranglings and infighting.
Five months before the referendum, Cummings blamed the EU for the rise of extremism in Europe saying "extremists are on the rise in Europe and are being fuelled unfortunately by the Euro project and by the centralisation of power in Brussels. It is increasingly important that Britain offers an example of civilised, democratic, liberal self-government". On 23rd June 2016, the UK voted to leave the European Union, and Cummings received plaudits for his role in the successful campaign.
Cummings then moved on to private healthcare provider Babylon Health to advise on their communications strategy and recruitment, which went up Labour's arse sideways, with the opposition raising concerns about Cummings' close relationship with then Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt.
In March 2019 Cummings found himself in the news when he failed to appear before the DCMS Committee inquiry into claims that fake news was used to influence the Brexit vote. As a result, the committee issued an admonishment for contempt of Parliament which was approved by the House of Commons the following month.
By this time, Prime Minister Theresa May was in her final months in Downing Street, and Boris Johnson - who'd seen Brexit as a career move - was positioning himself to replace her. And he succeeded, becoming Tory leader, and hence Prime Minister, in July 2019.
This worked out well for Cummings, who was immediately appointed Chief Adviser to Johnson, becoming - in the eyes of many - the most influential and powerful unelected official in the country.
Cummings walked into a shitstorm, but this didn't stop him quickly raising hell of his own.
His first controversy arose when it was revealed that a farm that he is co-owner of had received £235,000 in subsidies from the EU when Cummings had previously described such funding as "absurd", claiming that they were given out to encourage rich landowners to do "very stupid things". Typically, Cummings simply brushed this off.
A little over a month later, Cummings fired an aide - Sonia Khan - of then Chancellor of the Exchequer Sajid Javid in spectacular fashion without Javid's knowledge or agreement. Cummings allegedly called Khan to Number 10 before taking two phones from her, before requesting that an armed police officer escort her from the premises. Her crime? Speaking to an ex-aide of former Chancellor Philip Hammond.
The Johnson-led administration were operating as a minority Government, and talk began to grow of a third General Election in four years, though publicly, Johnson and his colleagues denied it. However, in September 2019, Cummings - glass of red wine in hand - was said to have been involved in a confrontation with then Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn in Portcullis House, goading the leader of the opposition about the prospect of another General Election. It is said that Corbyn had to be pulled away by aides.
In November 2019, the inevitable General Election was called and Cummings became embroiled in more controversy when a whistleblower attempted to raise questions regarding Cummings' activities during his time in Russia as Labour were grilling the Government about their refusal to release the report into Russian interference in our democracy, while a story in the Sunday Times described how Whitehall officials were keeping Government business from him. Again, Cummings simply brushed it all off.
Although Cummings didn't run the Conservative campaign, he played an important role, coining the slogan, 'Get Brexit Done'. Indeed, the Conservative manifesto said little else, but it resonated with those frustrated by the Government's inability to properly progress the UK's exit from the European Union, most notably in traditional Labour voting areas, and Boris Johnson led his party to a landslide victory with an eighty seat majority. Cummings was subsequently reappointed by Johnson, and said "after the shock of the referendum, MPs and journalists should have taken a breath and had a lot of self-reflection on why they misunderstood what was going on in the country. Instead a lot of people just doubled down on their own ideas and fucked it up even more. That's why something like this happens against expectations".
Whether you agree with Cummings or not, his blog makes for interesting reading, and his first post of 2020 was particularly eye-opening. In it he launched an unofficial recruitment campaign for Downing Street calling for "data scientists, project managers, policy experts, assorted weirdos..." hypothesising that Brexit was going to mean major policy changes and changes to associated methods of decision-making, and that a Government with a large majority could make significant progress with long-term challenges without having to worry about popularity in the short-term. And to help with this, Cummings made clear he was on the look-out for a different type of civil servant, and began his war on 'the Blob', taking aim at the "public school bluffers" in Whitehall he despises.
Cummings' recruitment drive led to a number of appointments, one of which caused a huge clusterfuck for the Government. Independent writer and researcher - and apparent eugenicist - Andrew Sabisky was appointed as a 'contractor' by Cummings, a selection that drew immediate criticism, including within the Conservative Party due to Sabisky's opinions on subjects including using brain-enhancing drugs on young children, whether people that claim benefits should be encouraged to have less children, and the IQs of black people. Sabisky quickly resigned.
And then came Coronavirus.
It is clear that the Government has made a hash of responding to the crisis, and a big part of their initial thinking was the herd immunity theory, with the Sunday Times reporting that Cummings had said that the attitude towards the virus was "herd immunity, protect the economy and if that means a few pensioners die, too bad". The story was vehemently disputed by Downing Street, who accused the paper of using defamatory and invented quotes.
Towards the end of March, Boris Johnson tested positive for Coronavirus, and three days later, Cummings was seen running from Downing Street having displayed symptoms, and subsequently went into self-isolation.
After a couple of weeks or so, both Johnson and Cummings were back in action, though it was a low profile re-entry back into public life for them, particularly Cummings.
That all changed a few days ago when it became apparent that 128 fake Twitter accounts had been set up purporting to be NHS staff that supported the Government and favoured herd immunity, and that they appeared to have been set up by either the Department of Health and Social Care or their marketing agency. As with previous stories, this was fiercely rebutted. The Vote Leave campaign - masterminded by Cummings let's not forget - was characterised by lies, outlandish claims and fake social media posts; this reeked of the same philosophy. This reeked of Cummings.
Cummings had a good working relationship with Gove, it was probably a case of opposites attract, something noted by Wintour: "Gove, polite to a fault, would often feign ignorance of his adviser's methods, but knew full well the dark arts that Cummings deployed to get his master's way".
However, in 2014 and ahead of the 2015 General Election, Cummings chose to leave his job with Gove with the intention of exploring the potential of setting up a free school, leaning on work that he'd done with the New Schools Network in 2009 and 2010.
In their 2015 General Election manifesto, the Tories committed to holding a referendum on the UK's membership of the European Union, and David Cameron went on to lead them to a surprise win with a small majority. And Cameron quickly took that commitment to a referendum of Europe and made it policy, setting a date of 23rd June 2016.
And with his anti-EU CV, Cummings made his next move, becoming Vote Leave's Campaign Director in October 2015. Cummings based his leave strategy on four key messages: "do talk about immigration"; "do talk about business"; "don't make the referendum final"; and "do keep mentioning the Charter of Fundamental Rights and the over-reach of the European Union's Court of Justice". He also coined the 'take back control' slogan. However, within five months, both Cummings and Vote Leave's CEO Matthew Elliott left following reported internal wranglings and infighting.
Five months before the referendum, Cummings blamed the EU for the rise of extremism in Europe saying "extremists are on the rise in Europe and are being fuelled unfortunately by the Euro project and by the centralisation of power in Brussels. It is increasingly important that Britain offers an example of civilised, democratic, liberal self-government". On 23rd June 2016, the UK voted to leave the European Union, and Cummings received plaudits for his role in the successful campaign.
Cummings then moved on to private healthcare provider Babylon Health to advise on their communications strategy and recruitment, which went up Labour's arse sideways, with the opposition raising concerns about Cummings' close relationship with then Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt.
In March 2019 Cummings found himself in the news when he failed to appear before the DCMS Committee inquiry into claims that fake news was used to influence the Brexit vote. As a result, the committee issued an admonishment for contempt of Parliament which was approved by the House of Commons the following month.
By this time, Prime Minister Theresa May was in her final months in Downing Street, and Boris Johnson - who'd seen Brexit as a career move - was positioning himself to replace her. And he succeeded, becoming Tory leader, and hence Prime Minister, in July 2019.
This worked out well for Cummings, who was immediately appointed Chief Adviser to Johnson, becoming - in the eyes of many - the most influential and powerful unelected official in the country.
Cummings walked into a shitstorm, but this didn't stop him quickly raising hell of his own.
His first controversy arose when it was revealed that a farm that he is co-owner of had received £235,000 in subsidies from the EU when Cummings had previously described such funding as "absurd", claiming that they were given out to encourage rich landowners to do "very stupid things". Typically, Cummings simply brushed this off.
A little over a month later, Cummings fired an aide - Sonia Khan - of then Chancellor of the Exchequer Sajid Javid in spectacular fashion without Javid's knowledge or agreement. Cummings allegedly called Khan to Number 10 before taking two phones from her, before requesting that an armed police officer escort her from the premises. Her crime? Speaking to an ex-aide of former Chancellor Philip Hammond.
The Johnson-led administration were operating as a minority Government, and talk began to grow of a third General Election in four years, though publicly, Johnson and his colleagues denied it. However, in September 2019, Cummings - glass of red wine in hand - was said to have been involved in a confrontation with then Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn in Portcullis House, goading the leader of the opposition about the prospect of another General Election. It is said that Corbyn had to be pulled away by aides.
In November 2019, the inevitable General Election was called and Cummings became embroiled in more controversy when a whistleblower attempted to raise questions regarding Cummings' activities during his time in Russia as Labour were grilling the Government about their refusal to release the report into Russian interference in our democracy, while a story in the Sunday Times described how Whitehall officials were keeping Government business from him. Again, Cummings simply brushed it all off.
Although Cummings didn't run the Conservative campaign, he played an important role, coining the slogan, 'Get Brexit Done'. Indeed, the Conservative manifesto said little else, but it resonated with those frustrated by the Government's inability to properly progress the UK's exit from the European Union, most notably in traditional Labour voting areas, and Boris Johnson led his party to a landslide victory with an eighty seat majority. Cummings was subsequently reappointed by Johnson, and said "after the shock of the referendum, MPs and journalists should have taken a breath and had a lot of self-reflection on why they misunderstood what was going on in the country. Instead a lot of people just doubled down on their own ideas and fucked it up even more. That's why something like this happens against expectations".
Whether you agree with Cummings or not, his blog makes for interesting reading, and his first post of 2020 was particularly eye-opening. In it he launched an unofficial recruitment campaign for Downing Street calling for "data scientists, project managers, policy experts, assorted weirdos..." hypothesising that Brexit was going to mean major policy changes and changes to associated methods of decision-making, and that a Government with a large majority could make significant progress with long-term challenges without having to worry about popularity in the short-term. And to help with this, Cummings made clear he was on the look-out for a different type of civil servant, and began his war on 'the Blob', taking aim at the "public school bluffers" in Whitehall he despises.
Cummings' recruitment drive led to a number of appointments, one of which caused a huge clusterfuck for the Government. Independent writer and researcher - and apparent eugenicist - Andrew Sabisky was appointed as a 'contractor' by Cummings, a selection that drew immediate criticism, including within the Conservative Party due to Sabisky's opinions on subjects including using brain-enhancing drugs on young children, whether people that claim benefits should be encouraged to have less children, and the IQs of black people. Sabisky quickly resigned.
And then came Coronavirus.
It is clear that the Government has made a hash of responding to the crisis, and a big part of their initial thinking was the herd immunity theory, with the Sunday Times reporting that Cummings had said that the attitude towards the virus was "herd immunity, protect the economy and if that means a few pensioners die, too bad". The story was vehemently disputed by Downing Street, who accused the paper of using defamatory and invented quotes.
Towards the end of March, Boris Johnson tested positive for Coronavirus, and three days later, Cummings was seen running from Downing Street having displayed symptoms, and subsequently went into self-isolation.
After a couple of weeks or so, both Johnson and Cummings were back in action, though it was a low profile re-entry back into public life for them, particularly Cummings.
That all changed a few days ago when it became apparent that 128 fake Twitter accounts had been set up purporting to be NHS staff that supported the Government and favoured herd immunity, and that they appeared to have been set up by either the Department of Health and Social Care or their marketing agency. As with previous stories, this was fiercely rebutted. The Vote Leave campaign - masterminded by Cummings let's not forget - was characterised by lies, outlandish claims and fake social media posts; this reeked of the same philosophy. This reeked of Cummings.
*
When I first heard the news that both Johnson and Cummings had been affected by Coronavirus, I wondered whether or not it would humble them, and make them think twice about their outlook and beliefs. Johnson's utterings so far would hint at this ("there is such a thing as society"). But Cummings? The fake Twitter account episode would suggest not. For him, it seems that it's business as usual.
Alongside that the briefings and daily press conferences are set to the same tone, the same message ("we are following the science"), allowing them to take the credit for doing so if things turn out better than they look like they will, or to lay the responsibility for failings elsewhere if it turns out worse.
It would suggest that Cummings doesn't do humble, and will still heavily favour those dark arts that helped make the Vote Leave campaign a success, and the reaction to the fake NHS staff Twitter accounts highlights that he's still winning those wars.
Riding on the coattails of Trump's fake news agenda, Cummings has developed his own particular approach. He puts out fake news - for example, the fake NHS staff Twitter accounts - and it's pounced upon. He loudly and aggressively rebuts it, with each side questioning the other. It's the double identity, fake Spiderman thing: who is the real Spiderman? Or in this case, whose news is fake? In the end, the general population thinks it's all bollocks, it all blows over, and Dominic Cummings wins.
And it would appear that he is still in the business of remaking the civil service to deal with those long-term problems that he referred to in his last blog post. Apparently his WhatsApp profile states that his priorities are "Get Brexit Done then Arpa". ARPA was the Advanced Research Projects Agency created in 1958 by President Eisenhower. The agency collaborated with academics, industry and other governmental bodies to expand the frontiers of science and technology, and heavily influenced computer networking and the basis for the internet. The work of ARPA and growth of associated industries led to the creation of Silicon Valley. Cummings' declaration of war on 'the Blob' didn't end with Coronavirus.
*
So we know that Dominic Cummings is Chief Adviser to the Prime Minister, probably the most powerful unelected official in the country. But who is he?
Frances Perraudin speculated in the Guardian that Cummings was a "brilliant eccentric or an evil genius", while her colleague Patrick Wintour asked if he was a "genius or a menace", and suggested he was a "master of the dark arts". David Cameron labelled him a "career psychopath". Not all of them can be wrong. Indeed, there is a pattern to their opinions which would suggest they are on the button.
There is a brilliance, and even genius to some of his thinking, and I share his views that central government is in need of renewal, and that educational reform is important. And the use of language in some of his writing is electrifying.
That's where we part though. Because his character is laced with the dark triad traits, as his actions over the years have proven. Psychopathy. Narcissism. Machiavellianism. This leads him to make decisions like offering employment in Downing Street to a eugenics sympathiser, bully political aides, and abuse technology to get his own way. He comes across as a nasty piece of work. And there also seems to be a contradictory streak to his character. He has bemoaned the lack of 'specialists' in the civil service, those that focus on one key subject area; yet he himself seems to treat his roles as gigs or 'projects'. The closest he's come to focusing his attention on one particular area being his efforts towards educational reform.
But to look at him, you wouldn't think he'd have it in him. He dresses and looks like a middle-aged IT consultant on dress-down day. Is this to lull people into a false sense of security? Or is it two fingers up to 'the Blob' and the niceties of the civil service? Or is it simply the image he wishes to project? Who knows.
There is another train of thought I have in respect of who Dominic Cummings is though. And that's that he's not really much of a genius at all. That he's simply another Oxbridge graduate that spent a few years pissing about and then jumped on the right things at the right time. That he's really a chancer, a lucky little gremlin that has managed to bully and scheme his way to a position that's actually above his station, and that he grabs hold of things that sound cutting edge, controversial or out there just for effect, and who will simply fall with the Government he serves.
For what it's worth, I think he's the former, but he will still fall with the Government he serves. But whatever happens, you can guarantee that he'll rise again somewhere.
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