Dominic Cummings to be questioned at Covid-19 inquiry

Mr Cummings was a key figure in Downing Street throughout the Government’s early response to the pandemic and he will give evidence on Tuesday as the investigation continues.

From July 2019, he was Mr Johnson’s top political aide in Downing Street, having previously led Vote Leave in the Brexit referendum and working on the Conservatives’ 2019 election campaign.

Boris Johnson was prime minister when it it emerged Dominic Cummings had taken a lockdown-breaking trip to County Durham with his family (Image: PA)

When did Dominic Cummings leave government?

Then-prime minister Boris Johnson asked Cummings to leave government in November 2020, months after it emerged he had taken a lockdown-breaking trip to County Durham with his family.

Mr Cummings made the journey by car from London at the end of March 2020 when the Government had instructed people to stay at home.

He returned in April after driving to Barnard Castle, County Durham, amid concern that catching Covid had affected his eyesight.

Also appearing at the inquiry alongside his close ally Mr Cummings will be Lee Cain, the former Number 10 director of communications.

Mr Cain left government a day before Mr Cummings.

Lee Cain will also attend the Covid-19 inquiry (Image: James Manning/PA)

The two men will give evidence a day after Martin Reynolds, the civil servant dubbed “Party Marty” due to his role in the partygate scandal.

Speaking on Monday, Mr Reynolds apologised and said that Government protocols were “inadequate” and “grossly deficient” in the early days of the pandemic.

He said during that period there was an “unusual dynamic” in No 10 and he turned on the “disappearing message function” on a WhatsApp group titled “PM Updates” in April 2021 because of concerns about potential leaks.

Mr Johnson meanwhile came in for criticism from the UK’s top civil servant, Simon Case, who vented that he “cannot lead” and was making government “impossible” in WhatsApp messages given to the inquiry.

Extracts from the notebook of Sir Patrick Vallance meanwhile showed the chief scientific adviser considered the ex-PM to be weak and indecisive.

He also believed senior officials in Number 10 had tried to “strong arm” him and Professor Sir Chris Whitty into appearing at a press conference around the time it was disclosed Mr Cummings had gone to Barnard Castle.

Ahead of Mr Cummings’ appearance, some of those bereaved in the pandemic will be standing outside the inquiry on Tuesday holding pictures of loved ones who died.