Dominic Cummings is set to quit Downing Street by Christmas after his closest ally was ousted in a power struggle with Boris Johnson’s fiancée Carrie Symonds.
The chief aide had been on the brink of quitting since the departure of No 10 communications director Lee Cain on Wednesday.
Last night he was understood to have handed the Prime Minister his resignation and will leave his role before the New Year.
Government sources revealed he announced his intention to step down in a meeting with Mr Johnson yesterday afternoon.
Mr Cummings denied rumours he had threatened to quit but pointed the BBC’s political editor Laura Kuenssberg to a January blog post in which he expressed a wish for his job to be ‘redundant’ by the end of the year.
For 16 months he has pulled the levers of power at the heart of Government as Mr Johnson’s most senior adviser.
His departure, and that of his fellow Vote Leave campaign veteran Mr Cain, is understood will clear the stage for a more cohesive politics with a focus on green issues championed by Ms Symonds.
Dominic Cummings (pictured) is set to quit Downing Street in the New Year after Lee Cain ousted
Boris Johnson had initially offered to promote communications Lee Cain to become chief of staff. But he dropped the plan following objections from his partner Carrie Symonds (pictured with Mr Johnson)
Mr Cain, an ally of Mr Cummings, quit after Mr Johnson’s change of heart yesterday. He was Mr Johnson’s director of communications
The web of connections in Downing Street, which has been reeling from factional infighting during the coronavirus crisis
Who’s who in the civil war between Cummings’ Brexit Boys and the ‘Carrie Symonds crew’
Cummings pictured outside Downing Street in one of the outfits that has made him an unlikely style icon
TEAM CAIN
Dominic Cummings
Age: 48
Official title: Chief Adviser to the Prime Minister
Boris Johnson’s maverick Svengali, who gained national notoriety for his lockdown-breaking trip to Barnard Castle to ‘test his eyesight’ before a trip back to London.
The former Vote Leave director backed his former campaign staffer Lee Cain to take over as the PM’s chief of staff – prompting a bitter wrangle with Johnson’s girlfriend, Carrie Symonds, who warned it would be a ‘mistake’.
Cummings, who is known for his acerbic demeanour and preference for hoodies and ‘slob’ style jackets over suits, eventually lost the vicious tug-of-war, prompting Cain’s resignation and speculation that he could follow.
He is known to have a difficult relationship with Symonds, with reports earlier this year suggesting she was opposed to his aggressive approach to politics and tendency to ‘pick unnecessary fights’ which could harm the PM’s image.
Mr Cummings was born in County Durham and is married to Mary Wakefield, a senior journalist with the Spectator magazine, a Tory bible that Boris Johnson once edited.
Cummings ally Cleo Watson seen outside No10
Cleo Watson
Age: 31
Official title: Head of the Prime Minister’s Priorities and Campaigns
It has become a familiar ritual in Downing Street: photographers clamour to take pictures of elegant Cleo Watson as she strides towards the No 10 door with a dishevelled Dominic Cummings, the pair looking, as one wag put it, like ‘a gazelle with a pit pony’.
Watson is Cummings’ special adviser and the pair share a close relationship, with one Whitehall source describing her as ‘the Cummings whisperer’ because she is one of very few people who can calm him down when he flies into a rage.
Watson is one of five high-achieving sisters from an extraordinary family whose story could come from a Jane Austen novel. Indeed, she is the second of her siblings to work closely with a Tory leader. Her sister Annabel, 41, known as Bee, was Theresa May’s Chief of Staff.
Watson worked with Vote Leave during the 2016 EU referendum, before landing a top job in the policy unit in No 10 during May’s premiership.
She remained at the heart of Government under Johnson and now boasts the title of ‘Head of the Prime Minister’s Priorities and Campaigns’.
Oliver Lewis is another Vote Leave member to now work in No10
Oliver Lewis (nickname ‘Sonic’)
Age: Late 20s
Official title: Brexit policy adviser
A former Vote Leave staffer, Brexit policy adviser Oliver Lewis is a close ally of Cummings – who is known to address him by the nickname ‘Sonic’.
Oxford-educated Lewis has been working closely with Michael Gove on No Deal preparations, and was inspired by Cummings’ love of science to construct an enormous spreadsheet to model difference scenarios styled on techniques used by NASA.
He has also worked closely alongside chief Brexit negotiator David Frost, and earlier this year was accused by EU sources of repeatedly trying to shut down negotiations, according to The Sun.
After backing his mentor in his quest to install Cain at the top of Downing Street, Lewis has also become embroiled in the ugly fallout following Symonds’ victory.
Reports today suggested he was also ‘seriously considering’ his position.
CARRIE’S CREW
Carrie Symonds – seen at a Remembrance Day service in Whitehall on Sunday – has emerged as a force to be reckoned with in Downing Street
Carrie Symonds
Age: 32
Official title: NA
Boris Johnson’s fiancee and a former Conservative Party head of media, Symonds has emerged as a force to be reckoned in No10.
She is known to have a difficult relationship with Cummings and blocked his bid to install his ally Lee Cain as the PM’s chief of staff, insisting this would be a ‘mistake’ given how the campaign against the pandemic had gone so far.
A brutal stand-off ensued before Symonds emerged as triumphant – with Cain announcing his resignation and Cummings said to be also considering his position.
Symonds grew up in west London and attended Godolphin and Latymer School, an independent day school for girls, and the University of Warwick.
She worked for the Tory party from 2009, before hitting the headlines when her affair with Mr Johnson, 56, came to light.
A passionate conservationist, she had a direct impact on government policy after a badger cull in Derbyshire was called off, a move that saved thousands of the animals.
Allegra Stratton is poised to become the face of Boris Johnson’s new US-style TV press briefings
Allegra Stratton
Age: 39
Official title: No10 Press Secretary
Allegra Stratton, the former journalist poised to become the face of Downing Street’s first US-style televised press briefings, was the cause of the power struggle that erupted.
After her appointment, she insisted she would be answerable to the PM only, not Cain. With the former Daily Mirror journalist fearing he was about to be side-lined, Boris offered him the role of chief of staff.
That’s when Stratton and her allies stepped in, determined to prevent that happening.
Stratton is a respected former journalist for the Guardian and ITV among others, and helped Chancellor Rishi Sunak craft his public image before being poached by No10.
Stratton is a fully paid-up member of the metropolitan elite who was educated at Latymer Upper School in London (fees, £21,000 a year) and studied anthropology and archaeology at Cambridge. She is married to James Forsyth, the political editor of the Spectator.
Interestingly, while Cain has been mocked for dressing as a chicken to stalk former Tory leader David Cameron in the 2010 election, footage has recently emerged of Stratton also dressed as one, dancing at a high-spirited Westminster party where veteran political pundit Andrew Neil led the conga.
Munira Mirza is the phenomenally-bright head of No10’s Policy Unit
Munira Mirza
Age: 42
Official title: Director of the Number 10 Policy Unit
Munira Mirza is the highly respected and phenomenally bright head of the Downing Street policy unit.
A long-time Boris aide dating back to his time as London mayor, she prefers to work away from the limelight, but is also said to have made her opposition to Cain’s appointment clear.
The Oldham-born academic is a popular figure around No10. ‘She has a huge brain but wears it lightly. Boris listens to her,’ according to one source.
Mirza’s family came to Britain from Pakistan, with her father finding work as a factory while her mother taught Urdu part time.
She attended Breeze High School and Oldham Sixth Form College, where she was the only pupil to gain a place at Oxford, where she studied English Literature.
A former member of the Revolutionary Communist Party, Mirza is now one of the members in Johnson’s circle, and was named by the PM as one of the five women who have shaped his life.
Before reports of Mr Cummings’s resignation emerged late last night, his allies were already predicting he was preparing to follow Mr Cain out the door once the Brexit transition period ends on December 31.
‘This will loosen Dom’s grip on government and hasten his departure,’ a source said.
‘He wants to get Brexit over the line, get over the hump of the pandemic and get one or two of his pet projects locked in. Once that is done, he won’t hang around.’
A source close to Mr Cain had told the Telegraph: ‘This is the beginning of the end for Dom. Lee is the person who has been covering Dom’s flank 24 hours a day and he will soon be gone.’
Mr Cummings had pushed Mr Cain for promotion to the role of chief of staff, but the move was understood to have been opposed by Ms Symonds.
Mr Cummings made a last-ditch attempt to elevate another ally, Cleo Watson, to the post, but this was also slapped down by the PM, according to Times Radio’s Tom Newton Dunn.
The chief aide has not explicitly confirmed he has resigned and told Kuenssberg: ‘Rumours of me threatening to resign are invented.’
However when pressed if he is planning to step down by Christmas, he said: ‘My position hasn’t changed since my January blog.’
The blog post, which gained attention for its clarion call for ‘weirdos and misfits’ to apply for Government jobs, said: ‘We want to improve performance and make me much less important — and within a year largely redundant.’
That Mr Cummings steered attention towards this last night was interpreted as a strong signal of his intention to soon step down.
His departure will loosen the grip of the Vote Leave faction of advisers inside Number 10.
Mr Johnson is believed to have been deeply unimpressed by briefings and backroom scheming by Mr Cumming’s allies over the past couple of days.
He is expected to use the shake-up of his top team to usher in a more ‘liberal’ agenda to be implemented after the pandemic.
A Downing Street source told the Times the PM was looking ahead to ‘build liberal, global Britain’.
Downing Street had earlier dismissed claims that Mr Cummings will quit next year as ‘speculation’ – but other senior figures close to Mr Cain remain on ‘resignation watch’, including chief Brexit negotiator David Frost.
A source last night said that while Lord Frost was unhappy about Mr Cain’s departure, he would not be quitting as talks with Brussels enter their final stages.
Tory MPs warned Mr Johnson that the chaos in No 10 was undermining public confidence in the Government.
Sir Roger Gale said it was ‘extraordinary and unacceptable that Downing Street should allow itself to be distracted by internal squabbles’ in the midst of a pandemic.
He added: ‘Frankly this is a distraction… the Prime Minister has got to get a grip on it.’
Other MPs urged Mr Johnson to ditch his special adviser.
One said: ‘If they have got rid of one of the Kray brothers they have got to get rid of Cummings as well. To use a well-known phrase, Boris should take back control and be the real Boris that so many of his genuine friends and supporters believe he can be.’
The Prime Minister also faced questions over Miss Symonds’ role in Downing Street.
‘The question on everyone’s lips is ‘who will she go after next’… it looks like senior appointments now have to be approved by Carrie,’ an insider said.
‘That is a dangerous path for the Government to go down.’
Another adviser said the episode reflected poorly on the Prime Minister.
‘It is disappointing that he has failed to return the loyalty of his most loyal lieutenant when the going got tough,’ they said.
‘It begs the question – who is making the decisions now?’
Describing the row as ‘pathetic’, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said: ‘We’re all worried about our health and families, we’re all worried about our jobs… and this lot are squabbling behind the door of No 10.’
The departure of Mr Cain follows the appointment of a new press secretary to the Prime Minister.
Allegra Stratton will begin to carry out daily US-style televised media briefings on Mr Johnson’s behalf in the New Year.
Fearing this would leave him sidelined, Mr Cain offered to resign last week.
Mr Johnson urged him to stay on, having come to rely on the former tabloid journalist – whose previous jobs include dressing as a chicken to follow David Cameron on the campaign trail.
On Monday evening the Prime Minister offered Mr Cain the vacant job of Downing Street chief of staff.
The move was backed by both Mr Cummings and the Cabinet Secretary, Simon Case, who argued that Mr Cain had been fulfilling part of the role for months.
However, news of the appointment was leaked to the Mail – prompting a furious backlash from senior Tories, who feared it would further embolden a Vote Leave faction contemptuous of the role of MPs.
Crucially, it also sparked objections from Miss Symonds, who dislikes Mr Cain’s abrasive style.
She told her fiancé it would be a ‘mistake’ to give him a promotion.
As news of the row behind the scenes became public, Mr Cain decided his role was untenable.
He will stay in post until the end of the year, when he will be replaced as director of communications by former Mail journalist James Slack, currently Mr Johnson’s official spokesman.
The Prime Minister is reportedly keen to drop the aggressive style adopted by the Vote Leave campaign, and hopes to use televised briefings to ‘reset’ the Government’s image after a bruising year.
Ministers have been harshly criticised for their handling of the coronavirus pandemic, which has included a string of U-turns on everything from A-levels to free school meals.
Mr Cummings himself hit the headlines in May, when he was forced to hold a press conference to justify his decision to drive more than 260 miles to Durham during the first national lockdown.
It comes as yesterday Tories were predicting Cummings could be next out of the Downing Street door today after an extraordinary civil war erupted in public – threatening to derail Boris Johnson’s desperate struggle to control coronavirus.
There are also claims that Allegra Stratton, Downing Street’s new on-screen press secretary, and senior aide Munira Mirza fought the move, while there had been a huge mutiny from Tory backbenchers angry about lockdown policies and a series of humiliating U-turns on issues such as free school meals during school holidays.
It would have meant the PM’s core circle being exclusively male.
Mr Cummings turned up to work in No10 as usual this morning despite losing the latest tug of war for the premier’s ear, and blanked questions about his own future.
But senior Tories said it was clear that Mr Cummings was losing his grip on No10, and would soon be departing.
One jubilant Conservative MP told MailOnline the ‘grown ups have taken back control’. ‘Vote Leave has left!’ they said.
A well-connected Tory peer said it was significant that special advisers had started briefing against Mr Cummings, and suggested he could be looking for an excuse to leave without losing face.
‘There is a revolution happening. Things have clearly started to fall apart,’ they said.
Labour seized on the shambolic scenes, saying No10 officials were like ‘rats in a sack’ and behaving ‘pathetically’ when the country was trying to navigate the worst crisis in generations.
Ms Stratton was said to have only agreed to take the job if she reported directly to the PM, not Mr Cain – leaving him feeling ‘wholly undermined’.
Mr Cain apparently opposed her appointment and the pair had not spoken since she arrived in the role a fortnight ago.
Tory MPs and advisers hailed the news as an opportunity for a ‘reset’ after a ‘tribal and aggressive’ first phase to the Johnson government.
There had been a vicious response when it emerged Mr Cain was in the frame for the top job yesterday, with angry politicians sniping that it was a case of ‘Cain not able’ and another minister saying ‘WTF?!’
In his resignation statement, Mr Cain confirmed he had been offered the powerful post – which allies insisted was ‘basically what he does anyway’ – but after ‘careful consideration’ would be leaving at the end of the year.
He said: ‘After careful consideration I have this evening resigned as No 10 director of communications and will leave the post at the end of the year.
‘It has been a privilege to work as an adviser for Mr Johnson for the last three years – being part of a team that helped him win the Tory leadership contest, secure the largest Conservative majority for three decades – and it was an honour to be asked to serve as the Prime Minister’s chief of staff.’
He also paid a glowing tribute to Mr Johnson’s ‘loyalty and leadership’ and thanked his colleagues at Number 10.
In response to the resignation, Mr Johnson said: ‘I want to thank Lee for his extraordinary service to the Government over the last four years.
‘He has been a true ally and friend and I am very glad that he will remain director of communications until the new year and to help restructure the operation. He will be much missed.’
The former journalist will serve until the end of the year when he will be replaced by the PM’s official spokesman, James Slack.
In a round of interviews this morning, Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick desperately tried to play down the situation, insisting the government’s focus was still on the deadly pandemic.
He told BBC Breakfast: ‘It’s understandable that journalists, in particular, will be interested in the personalities of who works as advisers within Number 10 Downing Street.
‘But the Prime Minister runs the Government.
‘He is surrounded by a good team, a strong team of advisers, and, of course, the Cabinet.
‘Our sole focus in Government is trying to steer the country through the pandemic.’
He told Sky News: ‘At the end of the day, this is one individual.
‘The Prime Minister runs the Government.’
Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove – Mr Cummings’ former boss and still a close ally – was challenged in the Commons over whom he sided with in the extraordinary spat.
SNP Cabinet Office spokesman Pete Wishart said the ‘faceless characters who actually run this country in Number 10 are at each other’s throats’.
Mr Wishart asked: ‘Whose side is he on – Dom’s or Carrie’s?’
Mr Cummings (pictured left today) had pushed for his ally to be promoted in the face of opposition from the PM’s fiancée Carrie Symonds (right), who warned his appointment would be ‘a mistake’
There are also claims that Allegra Stratton, Downing Street’s new on-screen press secretary, opposed the appointment
Mr Gove replied: ‘I’m on the side of people from Aberdeen to Aberystwyth who voted to leave the European Union, who want us as a United Kingdom to make a success of these new opportunities (Brexit).
‘I know the Scottish Government is a total stranger to behind-the-scenes intrigue and briefing wars, so I can imagine his shock and amazement to see things reported in the newspapers.’
Mr Gove said the Government continues to make decisions in the interests of the whole of the United Kingdom.
Commons Leader Jacob Rees-Mogg said Mr Cain’s departure will be a ‘loss to the Government’.
He told MPs: ‘May I just say what a fantastic public servant he has been, somebody instrumental in ensuring the Vote Leave campaign was successful and somebody who has made a huge contribution to this Government.’
The cordial statements from Mr Cain and Mr Johnson masked disarray at the heart of government, with warring factions competing for influence in Downing Street.
Mr Cummings, who has stuffed the corridors of Number 10 with old Vote Leave allies, was initially thought to be considering his position but has resolved to stay in Government, the BBC reported.
That Mr Cain’s promotion was backed by Mr Cummings is one reason it caused such hostility among MPs.
Tory Chief Whip Mark Spencer was said to have been ‘inundated’ with messages from MPs urging him to intervene with the PM to try to block Mr Cain’s appointment.
One former minister had warned that allowing No 10’s Vote Leave faction to tighten its grip would be a ‘nail in the coffin’ of Mr Johnson’s Government.
Multiple sources said Ms Symonds, 32, had intervened to try to block the appointment.
One said: ‘Carrie has had her own run-ins with Lee, but she’s also been pressured by MPs to stop this.
‘You have to remember she is a former director of communications for the party and has good relations with a lot of senior MPs.
‘She has told the PM giving Lee the job would be a mistake – she’s just been trying to stop him doing something stupid that would damage the Government.’
Another friend told the Times: ‘She knows he runs the operation in an uncollegiate way where few people can get to him.
‘There’s not a diversity of opinion, he is not getting good advice. His top advisers are running him into the ground.’
The appointment was also said to be opposed by other senior women in Downing Street, including Mr Johnson’s policy chief Munira Mirza and incoming press secretary Allegra Stratton. Allies of Priti Patel insisted she had not been involved this week, despite claims she urged against the move.
Munira Mirza (pictured left), 42, the highly respected head of the Downing Street policy unit is also thought to have been against the promotion. James Slack (right) is set to become the new director of communications
That Lee Cain’s promotion was backed by Mr Cummings, whose close relationship with Mr Cain is one reason it caused such hostility among MP
Mr Cain, a Vote Leave campaign veteran who has served Mr Johnson since his stint at the Foreign Office, will be replaced as director of communications by James Slack, the prime minister’s official spokesperson
Election guru Sir Lynton Crosby, who masterminded Mr Johnson’s mayoral victories in London, was also said to have told the Prime Minister to think again.
In another layer of intrigue, No10 is in the middle of a frantic hunt for the ‘chatty rat’ who leaked news of the blanket lockdown for England before a final decision had been taken.
The leak at the end of last month infuriated Mr Johnson, who had wanted to take a few days more to consider whether the draconian measures were necessary. Instead he was forced to summon a Saturday night press conference to confirm what was going to happen.
There are suggestions that ministers have now been ruled out of the formal Cabinet Office inquiry, with advisers in the crosshairs.
Leading Tory backbenchers said there had been long-standing concerns about the Downing Street operation.
Sir Charles Walker, vice chairman of the 1922 Committee of backbench Conservative MPs, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘I think there has been unhappiness about the Number 10 operation for some time.
‘Members of Parliament have felt excluded from the decision-making process, and that’s no secret.
‘The real opportunity here is for the chief of staff position to be filled by someone who has good links with the Conservative Party and its representation in the House of Commons.’
Former Northern Powerhouse minister Jake Berry – a long-term ally of Mr Johnson who fell out of favour earlier this year – said the PM Johnson was ‘stamping his Johnsonian authority’ on Downing Street.
The Rossendale and Darwen MP told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: ‘The departure of Lee Cain does show, I think, that the Prime Minister is taking back control of his government.
‘He’s moving from a campaigning operation to an operation solely focused on good government. I think it’s a good move for the Prime Minister.
‘As we go past that grim milestone, as you say, of 50,000 deaths from this appalling disease, it’s high time, I think, that there was a bit of a change of guard in Number 10.’
Asked about Ms Symonds being opposed to Mr Cain’s promotion, Mr Berry said: ‘I have been in touch with people in the building, that’s not actually completely my understanding of what has happened.’
He said Mr Johnson had a ‘renewed sense of mission’, adding: ‘I think this is a good sign that he is moving away from just being a campaigning government, coming out of the general election, and then the Covid crisis, and really stamping his Johnsonian authority across the Number 10 operation.’
Sir Roger Gale said Mr Cummings was a ‘liability’ and the PM needed a chief of staff in ‘big boy pants’.
The veteran MP said: ‘The Government, and Downing Street particularly, should be concentrating all of its efforts on the pandemic and on the end game of Brexit, and frankly this is a distraction that cannot and should not be allowed to take place, and the Prime Minister has got to get a grip on it.
‘For my money Cummings is a liability and what the Prime Minister needs and deserves is a first-rate chief of staff who is a serious heavyweight, I think the expression currently in use is big boy pants.’
Guto Harri, who worked with Mr Johnson at City Hall, said it was an opportunity for a ‘reset’ to when he was one of the most popular politicians in the country.
‘It’s a chance for a government that is more professional… and far less aggressive and tribal than it has been.’
But Sir Keir Starmer seized on the chaos, telling LBC radio that the country would be ‘scratching their heads’.
‘This is pathetic. I think millions of people will be waking up this morning, scratching their heads, saying what on earth is going on?’ he said.
‘We’re in the middle of a pandemic, we’re all worried about our health and our families, we’re all worried about our jobs, and this lot are squabbling behind the door of Number 10.
‘It’s pathetic. Pull yourselves together, focus on the job in hand.’
Downing Street insisted that Mr Johnson remains ‘absolutely focused’ on the coronavirus pandemic despite the infighting inside No 10 leading to the resignation of Mr Cain.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: ‘The Prime Minister is fully focused on tackling coronavirus.
‘I think you can see the progress that we’re making in terms of rolling out mass testing, in securing vaccines and also in terms of making improvements to things such as test and trace.
‘So, I think what you can see is the Prime Minister is absolutely focused on beating this virus and taking the measures that are necessary to get that R rate down and bring the infection rate back under control.’
Pressed if the shake-up among senior staff was a distraction, he said: ‘You’ve seen from the Prime Minister this week that he’s absolutely focused on taking all the steps that are required to equip the country to beat coronavirus.’
The crisis had been brewing for weeks with Mr Cain fearing his role could be undermined by the arrival of Ms Stratton, who is due to start daily televised briefings on No10’s behalf in the new year.
Responding to the news of power struggles within No10, Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner tweeted: ‘Pathetic and childish. In the middle of a pandemic, when a few hours ago we reached the tragic milestone of 50,000 deaths.
‘This absolute shower wouldn’t know governing in the national interest if it slapped them in the face.’
Mr Cain is one of Mr Johnson’s most trusted advisers, having been by his side since 2017 when he left Theresa May’s Downing Street operation to work with him at the Foreign Office.
When Mr Johnson quit Mrs May’s Cabinet over Brexit in 2018, Mr Cain continued working with him.
He then helped run his leadership campaign before joining his Government as director of communications.
The two men also worked together during the Brexit referendum in 2016, when Mr Cain was a press officer at the Vote Leave campaign masterminded by Mr Cummings and led by Mr Johnson and Michael Gove.
Last year he ordered ministers to boycott BBC Radio 4’s Today programme because of perceived bias. The ban was only lifted when the coronavirus pandemic struck.
Mr Cain has also imposed a boycott of ITV’s Good Morning Britain that has lasted for more than six months.
This year he sparked a walkout by political journalists after he banned reporters from news outlets deemed unfriendly from attending a No10 briefing with officials.
Mr Cain has developed a reputation as an ardent Brexiteer and helped forge Mr Johnson’s tough stance last year which saw him controversially prorogue parliament in an attempt to prevent pro-Remain MPs blocking a no-deal departure.
But this year it emerged he saw the Vote Leave job as a route into politics rather than a vocation.
A former colleague from his time as a journalist told PR Week: ‘He told me: ‘I just want to get into politics. I’ve applied for two jobs and I’ve got one of them.
‘I’ve applied for head of broadcast for Remain and head of broadcast for Leave. If this ever comes out I’ll be in a lot of trouble’.’
Carrie Symonds holds the ‘real power in No 10’, body language experts say: ‘Dishevelled’ Boris Johnson ‘lacks any authority’ while his fiancée is ‘by far the most confident’ and watches him like a ‘naughty schoolboy’
By Dan Sales for MailOnline
Carrie Symonds has risen to hold ‘real power in No 10’ while her Prime Minister fiancé Boris Johnson has become ‘dishevelled and lacking in any signals of dignity or authority’.
Analysis of pictures and videos of the couple have shown a switch of authority between the pair, according to body language and relationship experts.
One told MailOnline today ‘It’s as if the power balance in their relationship has reversed, which may well be spilling into Boris’s professional decision making as well’.
The stunning role switch was laid bare by a influence struggle in the heart of Downing Street last night as Ms Symonds apparently ‘vetoed’ key aide Lee Cain’s appointment as chief of staff and he resigned.
It was a far cry from the impression given at her earlier appearances with Mr Johnson, where she appeared less confident and deferred to her older partner.
And back on July 2019 when she lined up outside Downing Street with staff to welcome the new PM there was little hint of the power she would grow to wield.
But the couple’s more recent video together for an awards ceremony showed him ‘keeping an eye on him’ and displaying strength as he looked ‘like a naughty child’.
His run-down appearance at the recent Remembrance Day ceremony also sounded alarm bells.
Carrie Symonds has risen to hold ‘real power in No 10’ while her Prime Minister fiancé Boris Johnson has become ‘dishevelled and lacking in any signals of dignity or authority’, body language experts have said. ‘Carrie’s fingers appear to have a strong, determined grip’ which was a gesture of ownership while Boris’s hand was clawed in ‘what looks like tension’
Body language expert Judi James said: ‘Carrie’s almost victorious-looking, closed-lip beam direct to the camera, which she holds with her eyes, registers increased confidence’
She said that Mr Johnson’s hand is ‘clawed in what looks like tension’, adding that his part-smile ‘suggests decreased confidence’
Boris Johnson looked ‘dishevelled and lacking in any signals of dignity or authority’, experts say
Body language expert Judi James told MailOnline: ‘Dishevelled and lacking in any signals of dignity or authority, Boris sat slumped and looking physically awkward in his seat with one hand placed randomly on the side of the chair and his toes pointed inward like a small schoolboy.
‘His grave demeanor and reflective, downcast gaze was appropriate for the occasion but he appeared physically uncomfortable, with no obvious signals of high status or leadership.
‘Walking together with Carrie a few days earlier we were shown probably the first body language signals of their status as a couple as she confidently grabbed his arm and he reciprocated by bending his own.
‘Carrie’s fingers appear to have a strong, determined grip here is a gesture of ownership while Boris’s hand is clawed in what looks like tension.
‘Boris’s part-smile suggests decreased confidence while Carrie’s almost victorious-looking, closed-lip beam direct to the camera, which she holds with her eyes, registers increased confidence and a far more assured air than usual.’
Behavoural and dating psychologist Jo Hemmings said: ‘What I think is so intriguing in their evolving relationship, is that while Carrie’s influence and confidence seems to have grown during their time together, Boris is much less self-assured.
‘It’s as if the power balance in their relationship has reversed, which may well be spilling into Boris’s professional decision making as well.’
Carrie Symonds was ‘gazing like a slightly doting but firm mother’, ‘the stronger of the two’
The video was said to have shown ‘a strange looking relationship’ with ‘power signals from her’
Ms Symonds was said to have discarded her ‘ previously demure, slightly boho look for a bold green dress’
The new status quo was becoming evident in a video recorded for the Pride of Britain awards two weeks ago.
There Ms Symonds and Mr Johnson praised NHS frontline heroes, who saved his life when he contracted Covid-19.
But it featured a number of scrutinising looks from her to him as he spoke, as well as a number of unusual exclamations of the PM declaring ‘exactly right’ and ‘correct’.
Judi said: ‘She was gazing at him like a slightly doting but firm mother – she looks like the stronger one of the two
‘She was keeping an eye on him, that he was the naughty schoolboy and she was giving a ‘behave yourself’ eye on him.
‘It was a strange looking relationship, but the power signals definitely come from her.
‘I think what we misunderstand with Carrie because she looks younger than him, I think we underestimate her intellect in terms of politics and maybe her own ambitions and maybe her workplace power.
‘I think we are used to seeing PM’s wives smiling innocently, with Carrie I think the body language shows she has got real power in Number 10.’
Ms Hemmings said the video showed Ms Symonds was uncomfortable and the climax of the change in power of the pair.
She said: ‘Carrie looks by far the most confident of the two, discarding her previously demure, slightly boho look for a bold green dress and a couple of elegant necklaces.
‘She seems to be looking at Boris, with a frown that is willing him to get through this informal chat without saying anything inappropriate or stumbling. Her rather defensive gesture of holding her arm nearest to Boris with her other hand, also reveals that she is not totally happy with this scenario.
‘Boris looks much more uncomfortable here and also gives over a sense that this piece of filming just feels awkward for him. He seems more deferential to a rather glowing Carrie, rather than the other way around. Seemingly quite the reverse of the power dynamics between them only a year or so ago.’
The couple enthusiastically clapped their hands while applauding key workers but both were looking in different directions for most of the short appearance
This was the first time they had been seen together since the birth of their son Wilfred and after the PM had been treated for coronavirus
At one point Ms Symond’s gaze was completely focused outside the Downing Street gates
In May they appeared again for a similar theme, applauding key workers on the weekly public outpouring of gratitude.
This was the first time they had been seen together since the birth of their son Wilfred and after the PM had been treated for coronavirus.
They enthusiastically clapped their hands but both were looking in different directions for most of the short appearance.
Judi said of the moment: ‘Our first sightings of Boris and Carrie together after Boris went into No 10 suggested the kind of ‘High status alpha male and submissive female’ double act body language signals that we normally see when a royal male first appears with his bride-to-be or even from Donald and Melania when he first took over as President.
‘Boris often looked almost oblivious of Carrie, who would been seen walking in his wake and the only real rituals of togetherness came from Carrie, with little or no reciprocation of any touch or attempt to hold hands.’
Ms Hemmings said it had looked like two completely unconnected people standing outside.
She added: ‘When they first clapped for carers, they stood some distance apart and she barely looked at her fiancée.
Of course, she was not applauding him, but staff NHS, nevertheless, I would have perhaps expected her to behave as if they were a more united couple, clapping together, whereas it looked more like two individuals clapping in front of that famous black door.’
In their earlier appearances Ms Symonds was said to ‘dress in the style of a royal wife like Kate’
A body language expert said ‘Boris often looked almost oblivious of Carrie’ early on this year
The expert said Ms Symonds gave a ‘caring glance, but let him be in the main spotlight’
Another earlier appearance saw the pair on March 9 at a Commonwealth Service in Westminster.
Judi said: ‘Carrie even dressed in the style of a royal wife like Kate, with demure, long floral-print dresses.
‘Initially it looked a bit like she was eclipsed by him with him the alpha male at the front.
‘He used to ignore her basically and she would be the one that used to try and make contact. She looked very submissive to start with.’
Ms Hemmings said the couple looked more like Mr Johnson was the focus in this earlier outing.
She added: ‘Carrie is looking a little happier and supportive of Boris, yet still keeping a rather nervous and deferential distance from her partner.
‘She is giving him a caring glance, but letting him still clearly be in the main spotlight of events.’
One expert said Ms Symonds had looked like a ‘member of staff’ when the PM first arrived
The body language professional said she had now risen to power, adding: ‘How better to get away with it and stay under the radar, wear a lot of floral dresses and smile sweetly?’
Both experts agree Ms Symonds current position of apparent kingmaker in the wake of Mr Cain’s sudden resignation is a world away from July last year.
There as her partner achieved his life dream of becoming Prime Minister, she appeared downbeat by his new role.
Ms Hemmings said: ‘Carrie was still wearing her demure flowery frocks, looking a little overwhelmed, almost distressed with her downward glance, by the Downing Street move.’
Judi said she thought the emphasis was firmly on him at the start of their relationship as captured on camera.
She added: ‘When Boris made his first triumphant return to Downing St as PM after his meeting with the Queen, the spotlight was kept fully on him while Carrie was positioned more as part of the Downing St backstairs staff, waiting in a line with other members of the Downing street team rather than greeting Boris on the steps or posing together like most PM’s partners.
‘Watching these submissive-looking behaviour rituals it would be easy to have assumed that Carrie was very much the younger, less confident partner with no real role in the power hierarchy.
‘Clearly anyone in No 10 at the moment they will be aware of where the bodies are buried.
‘I think there has been a big power boost for her. How better to get away with it and stay under the radar, wear a lot of floral dresses and smile sweetly?’