I was really hoping Cummings would be toast in the New Year
Here was my theory:
Boris as Mayor of London was pretty centrist. He knew in a Labour city that he could not introduce a swathe of conservative policies and get re-elected.
Boris knew, when elected Conservative Party leader that he needed the director of the Brexit campaign, who won the far-right Brexit referendum to give him a successful general. After all Cummings was genius at capturing a ground swell of traditional Labour working class voters, by lying and manipulating data, causing division and creating havoc, because the ends justify the means in their fetid minds. In short, Boris needed to replicate this strategy to capture that same vote in the general.
BUT, I had hoped, in the New Year Boris would realise that in the same way when he was Mayor, he would need to be a reasonably centrist PM (other than Brexit of course), because in the same way London is a Labour City, the red wall constituencies they managed to capture are also Labour at heart and far right policies would not be a voter keeper in the medium to long term. And that he did not need Cummings to rule, only to win.
Alas, my optimism that the would-be wrecker of civil society would be booted out of number 10 was poorly placed. Looking at the blog he published Thursday it suggests that he isn’t going anywhere: “I’ll have to spend time helping you so don’t apply unless you can commit to at least 2 years.” He wants to recruit a rash of libertarians who thinks just like him, and for the long term. Oh goody.
I know. I am a bloody idiot.