Read on Twitter
I have tried to answer the question that people have been asking all week: Why is Dominic Cummings so valuable to Boris? Many mistakenly think it's because Boris has no interest in policy and he needs Dom for vision. It's a little more nuanced than that https://edition.cnn.com/2020/05/30/uk/boris-johnson-worst-week-dominic-cummings-intl-gbr/index.html
First: Boris loves Dom. He privately acknowledges that his Brexit gamble probably wouldn't have paid off were it not for Dom. By mythologising Dom, he gave him a rockstar status that meant he couldn't be a normal advisor & knew this when hiring https://edition.cnn.com/2020/05/30/uk/boris-johnson-worst-week-dominic-cummings-intl-gbr/index.html
"A SpAd usually works with borrowed authority. They are the minister's person, rather than a person in their own right ... Dom came to the job with a level of authority that few had before him" says @Ommasalma https://edition.cnn.com/2020/05/30/uk/boris-johnson-worst-week-dominic-cummings-intl-gbr/index.html
Dom really is the 2nd-in-command not just on no10 operations, but on the Johnson-Cummings project & the breadth of its ambition. That's why Boris allowed Dom to have such control of the entire SpAd network, picked Dom over Javid & backed him over Sabisky https://edition.cnn.com/2020/05/30/uk/boris-johnson-worst-week-dominic-cummings-intl-gbr/index.html
It's not that the vision cannot work without Dom, it's that he is so across the detail of the project and has hired so many key figures that losing Dom would undermine the project, possibly leaving it dead https://edition.cnn.com/2020/05/30/uk/boris-johnson-worst-week-dominic-cummings-intl-gbr/index.html
Here, it's important to point out that Boris *is* the leader of his project. He is not outsourcing authority to Dom. They are a team & a successful one at that. Even ministers who find Dom frustrating acknowledge he is crucial to the project https://edition.cnn.com/2020/05/30/uk/boris-johnson-worst-week-dominic-cummings-intl-gbr/index.html
"We are where we are because Boris and Dom won the Brexit referendum and won the election. Anyone who seriously wants to stay in power and doesn't want that team at the top is making a brave call," said a government minister https://edition.cnn.com/2020/05/30/uk/boris-johnson-worst-week-dominic-cummings-intl-gbr/index.html
However, other senior Conservatives (remember Dom is not a Conservative) fear that keeping him in place will up Dom's appetite for risk and cause government further long-term problems and force Boris to make this choice all over again in a few months https://edition.cnn.com/2020/05/30/uk/boris-johnson-worst-week-dominic-cummings-intl-gbr/index.html
"Knowing Dom, he will take from this that he is basically invincible," says a senior Conservative figure who has known him for decades. "But the political will of the cabinet might not be there to help him next time he has a scrape." https://edition.cnn.com/2020/05/30/uk/boris-johnson-worst-week-dominic-cummings-intl-gbr/index.html
Which is why even people who admire Dom think it might be best that he goes now. His actions have undermined the government's core message and cost the PM a lot of political capital. This has cut through at a critical moment and people might not forget https://edition.cnn.com/2020/05/30/uk/boris-johnson-worst-week-dominic-cummings-intl-gbr/index.html
Clearly, PM thinks he can ride this out. Time will tell. "In politics you are always going to be hurt. It's where you wear the scar that matters," says @Ommasalma. If this story rumbles, Boris might need to lose the man who so often helps heal his wounds https://edition.cnn.com/2020/05/30/uk/boris-johnson-worst-week-dominic-cummings-intl-gbr/index.html
