Even wat meer achtergrond, roddel en achterklap uit de Boris-bode over deze Cain. Kennelijk verdenken ze hem ervan voortijdig te hebben gelekt dat er weer een lockdown kwam en was de vriendin van BoJo, Symmonds, zwaar tegen zijn eventuele promotie naar Chief of Staff. Ook Tories in het Lagerhuis zouden dat totaal niet hebben zien zitten.
quote:
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 fiancée 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?'"
En kennelijk heeft Symmonds de machtsstrijd dus gewonnen, ten koste van Cain en Cummings:
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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.”