Dominic Cummings' foul-mouthed rant at 'useless f******s' in Tory Party - Covid inquiry latest

Dominic Cummings appears before the Covid inquiry

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Jack Walters

By Jack Walters


Published: 31/10/2023

- 12:34

Updated: 31/10/2023

- 14:56

Boris Johnson's former Chief of Staff claimed the UK Government handled the coronavirus 'badly'

Dominic Cummings has launched a foul-mouthed rant against "useless f*****s" in the Conservative Party as he took aim at Boris Johnson's handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

Cummings, who spearheaded the 2016 Vote Leave campaign, appeared before the Covid inquiry just after former colleague Lee Cain suggested the ex-Prime Minister was the wrong person to respond to COVID-19.



The 51-year-old told Johnson his Cabinet ministers were “useless f*****s” as he went on to criticise then-Health Secretary Matt Hancock as a “proven liar”.

He separately labelled his former colleagues "useless f***pigs, morons and c***s".

WATCH NOW: Dominic Cummings appears before the Covid inquiry

Cummings suggested the explosive language might not have been expressed by everyone in Whitehall but the sentiments were widely shared.

"My appalling language was obviously my own but my judgement of a lot of senior people was widespread," he told the inquiry.

Cummings, who left Downing Street alongside Cain after a power struggle broke out in November 2020, went on to suggest that the majority of the Government's power was not held by the Cabinet ahead of the pandemic.

He instead claimed the Cabinet Secretary was more powerful than the Cabinet itself as meetings were held "just for show".

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Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his political advisor Dominic Cummings leave 10 Downing Street on October 28, 2019 in London

Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his political advisor Dominic Cummings leave 10 Downing Street on October 28, 2019 in London

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Lord Mark Sedwill and Simon Case held the position of Cabinet Secretary during Cummings' 16-month stint in Downing Street.

The former Chief Adviser to the Prime Minister also labelled the Cabinet Office a "bombsite" and warned a "dumpster fire" of documents hindered meetings.

Cummings added: "The Cabinet Office over a long period of time has accumulated more and more power, formal and informal.

"It’s become incredibly bloated. It’s acquired huge numbers of people, huge numbers of teams.

Boris JohnsonBoris Johnson leaving his London homePA

"And particularly on the whole, the sort of deep state, national security side, crisis management, has become in all sorts of ways extremely opaque and effectively completely invisible to any political figure, including the Prime Minister.

"So it was extremely difficult to know in Number 10 who exactly in the Cabinet Office was doing what, whose responsibility it was, who were we supposed to talk to to get action and that was critical, particularly in the first couple of months (of the pandemic)."

Cummings, who was repeatedly asked to slow down by Hugo Keith QC, berated his former boss after confirming he advised Johnson to conduct a major reshuffle and shrink the Cabinet.

He continued to label the ex-Prime Minister a "trolley", adding such a view was shared by "pretty much everyone".

Downing Street former special advisor Dominic Cummings (left) and Director of Communications Lee Cain (right)Downing Street former special advisor Dominic Cummings (left) and Director of Communications Lee Cain (right)PA

Cummings also reiterated Johnson was "crackers" for bringing him into Downing Street and regularly wasted time holding "c**p meetings".

Johnson is reportedly keen to collaborate with the Covid inquiry and will give his own evidence in due course.

Cummings went on to claim that Michael Gove was "10 times better" at dealing with devolved administrations as Johnson was "not keen" on Cobra meetings.

Speaking about the Levelling-Up Secretary, who stood against Johnson for Tory leader in 2016 and 2019, Cummings added: "Generally speaking it was better for them [devolved administrations] to confer either with officials or with Michael Gove than with the Prime Minister."

GoveHousing Secretary Michael GovePA

Cummings worked alongside Gove while the Surrey Heath MP served as David Cameron's Education Secretary.

However, Cummings and Cain have dealt a major blow to the former Prime Minister.

Cummings, formerly a loyal ally who fell out with Johnson's third wife Carrie Symonds, switched from cheerleader to critic after leaving Number 10.

Cain was considered a steadfast supporter of the former Prime Minister and worked with Johnson during his stint as Theresa May's Foreign Secretary.

However, the 41-year-old rejected Johnson's offer to serve as his Chief of Staff amid concerns about Downing Street's Vote Leave faction being sidelined in favour of Carrie's pals.

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