[Britse politiek] #117: Brinkmanship.

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Op woensdag 11 november 2020 23:00 schreef Perrin het volgende:
Boris loost wat Trumpofielen, nice.

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Op woensdag 11 november 2020 23:06 schreef Szura het volgende:

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Als Cummings gaat, dan gaan er nog veel meer want die heeft half Downing Street gevuld met z’n maatjes

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Op woensdag 11 november 2020 23:06 schreef Szura het volgende:

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Als Cummings gaat, dan gaan er nog veel meer want die heeft half Downing Street gevuld met z’n maatjes

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Carrie Symonds embroiled in row over Boris Johnson's chief of staff appointment

Rumours of shake-up have angered backbenchers with many convinced Lee Cain was behind recent lockdown leak

Boris Johnson is locked in a battle with his fianc�e over his new chief of staff after she attempted to "veto" the appointment, it has been reported.

The BBC said Mr Johnson's long-term girlfriend, Carrie Symonds, objected to the promotion of Lee Cain, currently the Downing Street director of communications, to chief of staff.

Laura Kuenssberg, the BBC's political editor, said Ms Symonds was "deeply unhappy about the plan".

Mr Cain is also unpopular with some Tory MPs, who said the appointment would be the "final nail for the PM" and "makes Rishi [Sunak]'s trajectory even quicker".

Plans are still under wraps but, if confirmed, the promotion will see Mr Cain made chief of staff, joining senior advisers Dominic Cummings, Lord Udny-Lister and Simon Case, who took over as Cabinet Secretary in September, in the PM's closest circle of aides.

A spokesman for the Prime Minister said he would not offer a comment "about personnel matters in Number 10" or Ms Symonds. But the rumours have angered backbenchers, many of whom are convinced former Vote Leave spokesman Mr Cain was behind the recent lockdown leak.

One former minister said it was "pathetic", adding: "I can't get beyond him being a bloody chicken, and we all know it was him who leaked lockdown."

Another said: "It's this Government all over – style over substance. Maybe the messaging will improve, but I doubt it will improve delivery. And once Conservatives lose our reputation for competence, we usually lose power pretty soon afterwards."

A fellow Tory MP said: "The lunatic will have literally taken over the asylum.... he is Dom Cummings' puppet and Dom Cummings is an advocate for lockdowns. If this is true and comes to pass, it will be the final nail for the PM.

"I don't think he realises how concerned the parliamentary party is about the Number 10 operation and at the heart of that is Cummings and Cain. It is just clear the PM does not understand or appreciate the trouble he is in with the parliamentary party. Lee Cain’s appointment makes Rishi’s trajectory even quicker."

But a former adviser said Number 10 would be unrepentant in the face of Tory outrage and played down the prospect of a purge, adding: "This Government gave up on optics when Cummings told the country to go f--- itself."

Another senior backbench Tory said: "I don't think changing the screws at Broadmoor will make much difference at all."

Mr Sunak is addressing the 1922 Committee on Wednesday afternoon, reassuring backbenchers about public finances. One MP joked that it was "his job interview – we'll just say: 'When can you start?'"

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Boris Johnson's adviser Lee Cain quits Downing Street role after revolt by Carrie Symonds

Mr Cain, No 10's director of communications, resigned after a power struggle with the PM's fiancee

One of Boris Johnson’s most senior aides resigned on Wednesday night after losing a highly public power struggle with the Prime Minister’s fiancee Carrie Symonds.

Lee Cain quit as Mr Johnson’s director of communications after Ms Symonds effectively vetoed his promotion to Downing Street chief of staff.

It came after an extraordinary briefing battle between allies of Ms Symonds and allies of Mr Cain - who include Mr Johnson’s most senior aide Dominic Cummings - exposed a civil war at the very heart of Number 10.

The departure of Mr Cain - who will leave his post at the end of the year - is likely to diminish the influence of his fellow Vote Leave veteran Mr Cummings, and will lead to inevitable questions about his future.

Mr Cain and Mr Cummings - two of the four most senior aides in the Prime Minister’s office - emerged as the losers in a high stakes gamble against Ms Symonds and Allegra Stratton, who will become the face of Downing Street when it begins daily televised press conferences, who had also objected to Mr Cain’s appointment.

Tory MPs had expressed “despair” about Downing Street being riven with in-fighting at a time of national crisis, with Mr Johnson facing having to pick sides between two of No 10’s most important women and his most senior aides.

Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor, made his own intervention by telling backbench MPs they had a “higher duty to the people of this nation” and that the public are “relying on us” to get them through the pandemic. The comments at a meeting of the 1922 committee were seen by MPs as an instruction to focus on their jobs rather than becoming distracted by events in Downing Street.

On Wednesday night senior backbenchers urged Mr Johnson to use the crisis to “reset” his Downing Street operation by appointing an experienced party figure who could build bridges between Number 10 and the parliamentary party.

On a day of high drama in Downing Street, Ms Symonds led a revolt of Number 10 women against Mr Cain’s promotion by making it known that she objected to him becoming the Prime Minister’s right-hand man.

Allies of Ms Symonds said she was “uncomfortable” with the appointment, questioning Mr Cain’s suitability for the role.

Ms Stratton, who would have reported to Mr Cain in his new job, is also understood to have objected, with both women expressing unhappiness about Mr Cain’s at times abrasive manner, and questioning the communications strategy under his leadership.

But on Wednesday Mr Cain said that “after careful consideration I have this evening resigned as No10 director of communications and will leave the post at the end of the year”.

He confirmed he had been offered the post of chief of staff, saying it had been an “honour” to have been asked to serve in the role.

Mr Johnson, meanwhile, described him as “a true ally and friend” who would be “much missed”.

Mr Cain will be replaced as director of communications by James Slack, currently the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman, who has served both Mr Johnson and Theresa May in the civil service post.

Mr Johnson had approached Mr Cain at the weekend to discuss making him his chief of staff, only for Ms Symonds to raise objections, insiders said. A promotion for Mr Cain would have ensured that Mr Cummings’s authority was not challenged by a new face in the Prime Minister’s office.

Instead, on Wednesday night Tory MPs were calling on Mr Johnson to start afresh with his top team.

Sir Charles Walker, a vice chairman of the 1922 committee of Tory MPs, said: "The PM has got to use this crisis to good use and get someone into 10 Downing St who backbenchers know and respect, and will have the Prime Minister's and party's interests entirely at heart.

"This is a chance for a reset and to reach out for a Conservative who is rooted in the Tory party."

Senior Tories are urging Mr Johnson to appoint David Canzini, a close ally of Sir Lynton Crosby, who helped to run Mr Johnson's leadership campaign.

Mr Cain’s resignation will immediately increase the influence of Ms Symonds and Ms Stratton, who only moved over to Number 10 last month after serving as the Chancellor’s communications chief.

They were understood to be unhappy with the prospect of Mr Johnson’s top team being all-male, including Simon Case, the Cabinet Secretary.

Mr Johnson was already under pressure from senior Tory MPs to appoint a party grandee to become his chief of staff to build bridges between No 10 and backbenchers.

Sajid Javid, the former chancellor, put himself forward for the job, and others whose names have been linked with the role include Oliver Dowden, the Culture Secretary, and former Cabinet ministers Greg Clark and Sir Michael Fallon.

Mr Cain is understood to have offered his resignation from his current role last week, complaining that if Ms Stratton became the face of No 10 and a new chief of staff was appointed he would be squeezed out. Mr Johnson then discussed with him the idea of a promotion.

One source who has been close to Mr Johnson told The Telegraph that they suspected Ms Symonds had identified her preferred candidate for the job, saying: “She won’t be taking this quietly... She will have someone in mind.”

However, allies of Mr Cain defended his record and said he would have been the right choice.

One said: “When Boris was in hospital and Dominic Cummings was laid up in Durham with coronavirus, Lee was left running the show. Not just communications, he was looking at every aspect of policy.

“The fact is his role already goes way beyond communications, so his job title isn’t going to make much difference to what he is doing day to day.

“He spends more time face-to-face with the PM than anyone except Dom.”

Mr Cain worked for Mr Johnson as his media adviser at the Foreign Office and stayed with him when he resigned over Theresa May’s Brexit deal.

Another ally said: “He has been by Boris’s side since before Carrie came on the scene, and when Boris resigned people told him he should get another job but he stayed loyal to Boris and the PM trusts him implicitly.”

Ms Stratton was not Mr Cain’s preferred candidate to front up Downing Street press conferences when they become a daily event next year, and as chief of staff he would have been her boss.

But Ms Stratton is understood to have made it clear that she must have direct access to the Prime Minister to be able to do her job.

Ms Symonds has been the focus of increasing speculation about her influence over the Prime Minister and Government policy since the couple became engaged almost a year ago.

The 32-year-old, who gave birth to the couple’s son Wilfred in April, is a passionate campaigner for wildlife and faced questions in January after it emerged that she had been briefed by animal rights activists before the Government cancelled a planned badger cull.

Mr Cain and Ms Symonds are understood to have fallen out when Ms Symonds posted photographs of her sitting on a bench with Mr Johnson on her Instagram account without telling him in June last year.

Friends of Mr Johnson have been searching for a new chief of staff for Mr Johnson since the summer, sources said, in part to take over some of the duties of London City Hall veteran Lord Udny-Lister, 71, Mr Johnson’s chief strategic adviser.

A friend said: “It is not a secret that Ed Lister is moving on at some point and so they need to strengthen up the core of the team and they have been looking at various options.”

Another Tory MP said: “This is not where we should be 11 months after a landslide.”

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The factions fighting for Boris Johnson's ear

Team Carrie
Leader: Carrie Symonds, the PM's financee and mother of his son Wilfred

Others: Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park, environment minister; Sarah Vaughan-Brown, Ms Symonds' media adviser

Team Vote Leave
Leader: Dominic Cummings, chief adviser to the PM and the brains behind the Vote Leave campaign

Others: Lee Cain, director of Number 10 communications, formerly media adviser, Vote Leave; Paul Stephenson, Partner of PR firm Hanbury Strategy who vets new special advisers, former communications director of Vote Leave

Team Rishi
Leader: Rishi Sunak, Chancellor

Others: Allegra Stratton, new press secretary to the PM, formerly adviser to the Chancellor; Richard Sharp, former Goldman Sachs banker and an informal adviser to Mr Sunak

Team London City Hall
Leader: Lord Udny-Lister, chief strategic adviser, formerly deputy Mayor for policy in City Hall (2011 to 2016)

Others: Ben Gascoigne, political secretary, formerly private secretary to Mr Johhnson in City Hall (2009 to 2015); Munira Mirza, Director of Number 10 policy unit, formerly adviser to Mr Johnson in City Hall (2008 to 2016)

Team Tory backbenchers
Leader: Conor Burns, former Parliamentary aide to Mr Johnson when he was Foreign Secretary

Supporters: Nigel Adams MP, Sir Graham Brady MP

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That’s literally it. That’s the choice. Trump is offering disease and death. Biden is offering peace and prosperity. And yet a recent YouGov poll shows Brexit voters tend more towards thinking a Trump deal would be better for the UK.

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Op donderdag 12 november 2020 05:41 schreef Subw00fer het volgende:

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https://www.independent.c(...)e-deal-b1721000.html

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Op donderdag 12 november 2020 05:06 schreef nixxx het volgende:
Verloofde van de PM, is dat nu ook al een kabinet positie?

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Op donderdag 12 november 2020 00:18 schreef Szura het volgende:
De Boris-bode heeft zelfs een heus overzicht van de bekvechtende kampen
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Op donderdag 12 november 2020 12:05 schreef Frozen-assassin het volgende:

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PM fiancee, mother of his son

Hoe is dit relevant

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Op donderdag 12 november 2020 08:36 schreef devlinmr het volgende:

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Waarom citeer je precies dat stukje?

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Op donderdag 12 november 2020 13:46 schreef Whiskers2009 het volgende:
Volgens het VK moet de EU zich flexibel(er) opstellen bij de onderhandelingen: https://www.nu.nl/economi(...)nderhandelingen.html

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Op donderdag 12 november 2020 14:04 schreef Jaeger85 het volgende:

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Waarom zou de EU? Zij hebben een veel sterkere onderhandelingspositie. Temeer omdat BoJo's plan B is weggevallen door het verlies van Trump.

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Op donderdag 12 november 2020 14:06 schreef Perrin het volgende:

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Bovendien vraagt het VK telkens aan de EU om een maatwerk-oplossing te bedenken voor een behoorlijk onmogelijke situatie die een Brexit veroorzaakt rondom Noord-Ierland.

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Op donderdag 12 november 2020 13:19 schreef Subw00fer het volgende:

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That's quite obvious.

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Op donderdag 12 november 2020 15:59 schreef devlinmr het volgende:

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Not for me...

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Op donderdag 12 november 2020 16:34 schreef Subw00fer het volgende:

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But it is as plain as the nose on your face!

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Op donderdag 12 november 2020 18:55 schreef Tijger_m het volgende:

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Eh, nee, ze was PR medewerker.

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Op donderdag 12 november 2020 19:19 schreef Tijger_m het volgende:

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Ja, nu heeft ze invloed. Niet toen ze een medewerker was.

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Op donderdag 12 november 2020 18:37 schreef bedachtzaam het volgende:
[ twitter ]

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Op vrijdag 13 november 2020 07:44 schreef Jaeger85 het volgende:
De Britten staan op het punt te capituleren vermoed ik.

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Op vrijdag 13 november 2020 13:29 schreef capricia het volgende:
Wat zijn die geruchten dat de UK een jaar uitstel gaat vragen?

Volgend mij is die deadline al gepasseerd.

[ twitter ]

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Op vrijdag 13 november 2020 13:56 schreef Tocadisco het volgende:
Die deadline (1 juli 2020 trouwens) wordt expliciet genoemd in de uittredingsovereenkomst, dus je zou zeggen dat ie wel vrij hard is.