INSIDE NO 10

Guerrilla warfare: Johnson steels himself for final assault from Cummings

Driven mad by weeks of wounding leaks, the prime minister has finally hit back against his former adviser — and he responded with gusto. Now No 10 is braced for more damaging revelations in front of MPs

ILLUSTRATION: TONY BELL
The Sunday Times

Even Boris Johnson’s closest allies have compared the prime minister to one of Shakespeare’s most tragic heroes: King Lear. After arguably one of his toughest weeks in Downing Street, Johnson suffered his greatest betrayal when his once loyal lieutenant, Dominic Cummings, eviscerated him in a 1,000-word blog post.

Those close to Johnson fear the treachery of his former chief adviser, accused of “systematic leaking”, has pushed the prime minister over the edge. Just like Lear, the PM has been driven half mad.

In his post, Cummings denied Johnson’s claims that he leaked details of the second lockdown and the prime minister’s texts with the billionaire Brexiteer Sir James Dyson.

According to friends, Cummings had one aim in posting the missive: to pre-empt a stitch-up by