Cummings is disliked by many Tories.
Margaret Thatcher’s press secretary Sir Bernard Ingham has labelled Dominic Cummings a “malevolent presence” in a column in the Yorkshire Post.
The Brexiteer Tory grandee said the government had been weakened by Cummings who, he said, “thinks the Civil Service is pretty useless and the machine would be in the better hands of weirdos like himself”.
This is a reference to a job advert posted by Cummings in January, in which he called for “weirdos and misfits” to join the civil service. One of those hired, Andrew Sabisky, was quickly forced to resign for a series of controversial comments.
Cummings is unpopular among many Tory MPs. Over 40 of them called for him to resign when he breached lockdown rules and over 60 criticised him.
Cummings has also been critical of Tory MPs. In 2017, he said: “Tory MPs largely don’t care about these poorer people. They don’t care about the NHS. And the public has kind of cottoned on to this.”
Bernard Ingham was Thatcher’s press secretary throughout her time in office, between 1979 and 1990.
In his column, Ingham also criticised the government’s plans to have a US-style spokesperson answering televised questions from the media. He called this a “constitutional outrage”.
Joe Lo is a co-editor of Left Foot Forward
To reach hundreds of thousands of new readers and to make the biggest impact we can in the next general election, we need to grow our donor base substantially.
That's why in 2024, we are seeking to generate 150 additional regular donors to support Left Foot Forward's work.
We still need another 124 people to donate to hit the target. You can help. Donate today.