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Tory MPs revolt as voters turn on Dominic Cummings

Dominic Cummings - PA
Dominic Cummings - PA
Coronavirus Article Bar with counter
Coronavirus Article Bar with counter

More than 35 Tory MPs including former Cabinet ministers have called for Dominic Cummings to resign, after claiming they have been contacted by hundreds of angry constituents over his alleged breaches of lockdown.

Boris Johnson's hopes of quelling public anger over his aide's conduct were in jeopardy on Tuesday night as opinion polls showed a sharp fall in support despite Mr Cummings hosting an unprecedented press conference to explain why he travelled to Durham to facilitate emergency childcare during the lockdown.

However, within 24 hours of the press conference, a junior minister became the first to resign over the affair and Cabinet ministers said Mr Cummings should “step back” until a police investigation into his behaviour had concluded.

The Telegraph understands that up to six members of the Cabinet have privately told colleagues they believe Mr Cummings should resign.

Jackson Carlaw, the Scottish Tory leader, is among those urging Mr Cummings to consider resigning. Former Attorney General Jeremy Wright and Mark Harper, a former chief whip, are also calling for him to go

On Tuesday night, Jeremy Hunt, the former Health Secretary, said he believes Mr Cummings committed a "clear breach of lockdown rules" . Although he said he was not calling for the chief adviser to resign, he said that he recognised "that accountability is central to our democracy and sometimes people do need to resign."

After four days of the issue dominating the political agenda, the Health Secretary said at the daily Downing Street briefing that he understood “the anger that some people feel” over the apparent breach of lockdown rules.

He added that: "I can understand why reasonable people can take a different view, but my judgment, which is the same as the Prime Minister's judgment, is that what Mr Cummings did was within the guidelines."

Earlier in the day, Michael Gove, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, had similarly defended Mr Cummings, saying that people would "make their own mind up" about what the adviser had done but insisting that he had not broken the law or the rules.

However, fresh confusion was caused when Mr Hancock promised he would “look into” reviewing all penalty fines imposed on families travelling for childcare purposes during the lockdown.

The Health Secretary, who was responding to a question from a vicar during Tuesday's Downing Street press conference, sparked a clarification from Government sources later in the evening who stressed that fines would not, in fact, be overturned.

Growing numbers of Tory backbenchers urged the Prime Minister to set up an independent inquiry into Mr Cummings’ 520-mile round trip to Durham as they said trust in the Conservatives was draining away over the affair.

Sir Graham Brady, the chairman of the 1922 committee, held a meeting of its five most senior officers to discuss the response to the Cummings crisis. Sir Graham has been asked by backbenchers to demand Number 10 sanctions an inquiry into the matter.

Opinion polls carried out after Mr Cummings’ appearance - and two press conferences from the Prime Minister - showed that approval ratings of both Mr Johnson and the Government have plummeted. Mr Johnson’s own ratings have plunged by 20 percentage points in just four days and are now in negative figures for the first time.

Mr Johnson suffered the first resignation over the Cummings affair when Douglas Ross, a junior Scotland Office Minister, announced he was quitting because he was unconvinced by Mr Cummings' explanation.

Despite last-ditch phone calls from both Mr Johnson and Mr Cummings urging him to stay, the Moray MP said he resigned as his constituents had made huge sacrifices sticking to the Government's 'stay home' guidance.

Amid fears that the public will stop listening to the Government's public health messages on coronavirus, he said: "I cannot in good faith tell them that they were all wrong and one senior adviser to the Government was right."

A second minister told The Telegraph they had taken soundings from friends as to whether they should resign, adding: "I think this is going to be very, very damaging and I really am sick of it."

With at least 38 Tory MPs - almost double Monday’s number - now calling for Mr Cummings to be sacked or resign, and party sources saying dozens more privately agree, Mr Johnson’s 80-seat majority would be under threat should they decide to mount a full-scale rebellion.

Among those calling for Mr Cummings to go is Jeremy Wright, the former Attorney General, who said he did not find Mr Cummings’ arguments for breaking lockdown “persuasive” and that he had concluded “it would be better for Mr Cummings to leave his position at Downing St”, adding that he had told the Prime Minister his view and the reasons for it.

William Wragg, a member of the executive of the 1922 Committee of Tory backbenchers, agreed, saying: "We cannot throw away valuable public and political good will any longer."

Mr Harper, a former Tory leadership candidate, said there was "no credible justification" for Mr Cummings' trip to Barnard Castle and he should have apologised as an "absolute minimum."

Co Durham's three Conservative MPs last night issued a joint statement saying that while Mr Cummings's public statement had addressed "a number of concerns" ... "in the same circumstances, none of us would have made the decisions he made - particularly over the visit to Barnard Castle."

One Cabinet minister told The Telegraph that Mr Cummings should “step back” until Durham police have concluded their investigation into whether he broke the law. The minister, whose view is understood to be shared by at least one colleague, said: “This is so energy-sapping, that’s the problem. We’ve got 101 million other things to be doing. We need this like a hole in the head at the moment."

Tuesday's Downing Street press conference was dominated by questions about Mr Cummings for a fourth day in a row.

Mr Hancock appeared exasperated at times, and when he was asked why he and his wife, who both had coronavirus, stayed at home in London when Mr Cummings and his wife did not, snapped: “We had childcare readily available at home, and Mr Cummings didn’t.”

The majority of the public now think Mr Cummings should resign, according to a YouGov poll, with the number wanting him to quit - 59 per cent - increasing in the wake of his high-risk public statement. The number of people who think he broke lockdown rules, 71 per cent, has also increased since he made his statement.

One Conservative source said: “The Prime Minister said people should judge Dom’s story for themselves. Well they have, and they have decided he should go.”

Elements of Mr Cummings’ story were also called into question as both Mr Gove and Number 10 appeared to contradict his claim that he had driven 30 miles to a local beauty spot to test his eyesight. After a former police officer suggested such behaviour was in breach of the Highway Code, Mr Gove and Downing Street hinted the trip to Barnard Castle might have been for exercise.

Mr Johnson faces another difficult day on Wednesday when he makes his first appearance before a House of Commons super-committee which is likely to be dominated by questions about Mr Cummings.

Some Tory critics of Mr Cummings, including Tobias Ellwood and Tom Tugendhat, have been left off the list of committee chairmen invited to question the Prime Minister at the Liaison Committee, but Labour’s Yvette Cooper, whose questioning of Amber Rudd ended her career as home secretary, will be on the panel.

Three police and crime commissioners have warned that Mr Cummings’ actions would lead to other people using his behaviour to justify breaching the lockdown.

West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner David Jamieson said: "The police’s job of enforcing the lockdown has been made much harder after both the actions of Dominic Cummings travelling over 260 miles and the flexibility with which the Government now seem to interpret the guidance.”