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How Tory MPs are reacting to Dominic Cummings’ departure

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With Boris Johnson’s senior aides Dominic Cummings and Lee Cain both working from home until they officially leave their roles, attention is turning to what will follow the Downing Street Vote Leave era. Up until now, aides from the Vote Leave campaign have held the balance of power in No. 10. This has seen Johnson successfully re-establish the Tories as a party of Brexit and adopt a more combative approach on a range of issues. As I say in the i paper, the departure of the pair marks a new chapter for Johnson’s government. 

One place where this is broadly being viewed positively is the Tory backbenches. ‘It’s good news that Vote Leave are weakening their grip,’ one Conservative MP from the 2015 intake says of this week’s events. ‘A lot of us have never met these people in the whole time they have been in charge. That tells you a lot’. Their hope is that the departure of Vote Leave aides will usher in a new chapter for Mr Johnson’s government – one in which the parliamentary party is consulted more and treated with more respect. 

‘We’re hoping for a culture change – we want things to be less combative,’ says one such Tory MP. However, another Conservative MP tells Coffee House they suspect trouble ahead: ‘If I were Boris I would worry that MPs from both ends of the spectrum are celebrating – they both won’t get what they want’.

The problem with revolutions in of themselves is you really need something to replace the old with. As things stand, there is a lot of uncertainty in government about what the next chapter means. Mr Johnson’s partner Carrie Symonds is being viewed within Downing Street as someone who has come out of the week stronger.

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