The political strategist held onto his job, despite immense pressure, after he fronted a press conference in the Downing Street garden to defend his actions — an unprecedented step for an unelected adviser.
But he was eventually sacked just five months later and soon began a public vendetta against Johnson, which included a series of damning revelations about how the pandemic was handled.
He was once described by Foreign Secretary David Cameron as “a career psychopath” and was known to sign into Whitehall departments using the name “Osama bin Laden” while an adviser in the Department for Education.
However, he has also inspired deep loyalty from his close circle of allies, who say he is a brilliant political strategist.
One senior Tory Brexiteer MP, granted anonymity to speak freely, predicted Cummings’ divisive reputation meant a party would never get off the ground.
“A political party actually needs to be collegiate,” they said. “Who would want to stand for election for his party? Almost everyone who has ever worked with Dominic Cummings has come away saying awful things about him.”
Cummings had not responded to a request for comment at the time of publication.