Former Vote Leave spokesperson tipped as Number 10’s new chief of staff
Boris Johnson is poised to appoint his current head of communications and former Vote Leave spokesperson as Number 10’s chief of staff, according to reports.
Lee Cain, who headed up the Vote Leave campaign alongside Johnson’s aide Dominic Cummings during the Brexit referendum is set to be promoted to one of Downing Street’s top jobs, according to the Times.
His appointment as chief of staff would further embed the influence of Number 10’s Vote Leave faction, as the UK’s attention now turns to Brexit ahead of the transition period deadline on 31 December.
The former tabloid journalist also served as Johnson’s press aide when he was foreign secretary, and helped organise his campaign to replace Theresa May as Conservative party leader last year.
The promotion would strengthen Cain’s power within Whitehall, and would place him on a level footing with Cummings.
Cain’s ascension forms part of wider plans by the PM to limit his inner circle to trusted advisers including Cummings, Sir Edward Lister and new Cabinet secretary Simon Case.
Tory MPs have urged Johnson to appoint a heavyweight chief of staff to provide more “grip” to the government.
A Whitehall source told the Daily Mail: “The PM desperately needs a chief of staff. Dom [Cummings] does not operate in that way and knows it. He has always said he does not want the title but won’t serve under anyone who has it. But he would be able to work with Lee, because he knows he is an ally, not a threat.”
Cummings has long pressed for a Whitehall shake-up, in a move widely understood to have been set in motion by civil service chief Mark Sedwill’s exit over the summer.
The Prime Minister’s chief adviser claimed last year that Whitehall’s upper echelons acted as a “protected caste to preserve its power and privileges regardless of who the ignorant plebs vote for”.
“Being in charge of massive screw-ups is no barrier to promotion,” said Cummings. “Operational excellence is no requirement for promotion. You will often see the official in charge of some debacle walking to the tube at 4pm (‘compressed hours’, old boy) while the debacle is live on TV.”
Number 10 declined to comment.