Dominic Cummings

British political strategist who served as chief adviser to UK prime minister from July 2019 until Nov 2020

Dominic McKenzie Cummings (born 25 November 1971) is a British political strategist. He served as Chief Adviser to Prime Minister Boris Johnson from July 2019 until 13 November 2020.[2] He was also special adviser to Michael Gove, the Secretary of State for Education from 2010 to 2014.

Dominic Cummings
Chief Adviser to the Prime Minister
In office
24 July 2019 – 13 November 2020
Prime MinisterBoris Johnson
Preceded byOffice established
(Gavin Barwell as Downing Street Chief of Staff)
Succeeded byEdward Lister, Baron Udny-Lister
Special Adviser to the Secretary of State for Education
In office
2010–2014
Education SecretaryMichael Gove
Preceded byElena Narozanski
Personal details
Born
Dominic Mckenzie Cummings

(1971-11-25) 25 November 1971 (age 52)[1]
Durham, England[1]
NationalityBritish
Spouse(s)Mary Wakefield
Children1
EducationDurham School
Alma materExeter College, Oxford
OccupationPolitical adviser
Known forSpecial adviser to Education Secretary Michael Gove, 2010–2014;
Campaign Director of Vote Leave, 2015–2016;
Senior Adviser to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, 2019–present
Websitedominiccummings.com

From 2015 to 2016, Cummings was director of the successful Vote Leave campaign. It was an organisation against the continued British membership of the European Union. The group took an active part in the 2016 referendum campaign for Brexit.

Cummings was born in Durham. He is married to Mary Wakefield. The couple have one son. Sir John Laws, a Lord Justice of Appeal, was Cummings' uncle.[3]

In May 2020, many people wanted Cummings to quit because he visited his parent's farm in Durham. Durham is over 200 miles (320 km) from his home in London. At the time, he had symptoms of COVID-19, and rules in the UK during the pandemic said people who thought they had the virus should stay at home. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that Cummings had done nothing wrong and had a reason to go against the rules, because he needed childcare for his child. The Durham Constabulary started an investigation to see if Cummings had broken the law.[4][5]

Early life

change

Cummings was born in Durham on 25 November 1971. His father, Robert, now a farmer, had a varied career, primarily as an oil rig project manager for Laing,[1] the construction firm. His mother, Morag, became a teacher and behavioural specialist after private schooling and university.[6] Sir John Laws, a former Lord Justice of Appeal, was his maternal uncle.[6]

References

change
  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Owen Bennett (25 July 2019). "Chapter 11: Changing Places". Michael Gove: A Man in a Hurry. Biteback Publishing. ISBN 978-1785904400. Retrieved 2 August 2019. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "OwenBennett" defined multiple times with different content
  2. "Dominic Cummings: PM's top adviser leaves No 10 to 'clear the air". Retrieved 3 January 2020.
  3. Booth, Robert (5 April 2020). "Retired judge and Cummings' uncle Sir John Laws dies after contracting Covid-19". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
  4. "Durham police asked to establish whether Dominic Cummings broke the law". The Independent. 25 May 2020. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
  5. Dodd, Vikram (25 May 2020). "Durham police to be asked to investigate Dominic Cummings". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
  6. 6.0 6.1 Lambert, Harry (25 September 2019). "Dominic Cummings: The Machiavel in Downing Street". The New Statesman. Archived from the original on 3 June 2021. Retrieved 16 December 2019.

Other websites

change