Sunak accused of breaking ministerial code over ‘secret’ Cummings meetings
Rishi Sunak is facing questions over whether he broke the ministerial code by failing to declare “secret meetings” with Boris Johnson’s former chief aide Dominic Cummings.
The Vote Leave director claimed the Prime Minister offered to bring him on as a political adviser to help the Conservatives “smash Labour and win the election”.
Mr Cummings confirmed reports in The Sunday Times that he held meetings with the Prime Minister in December 2022 and July 2023, in which the pair reportedly discussed policy matters.
The former aide also claimed he turned down a job offer from Mr Sunak after the Prime Minister refused to commit to reforms on a range of policies including the UK’s “nuclear weapons infrastructure [and] pandemic defences”.
The Liberal Democrats called for an official inquiry into whether Mr Sunak breached the ministerial code by failing to declare the meetings with Mr Cummings.
They noted that Mr Sunak’s transparency returns do not include any meetings with Mr Johnson’s former chief aide during the periods they are reported to have taken place.
No 10 sources confirmed the meetings took place but denied any wrongdoing, insisting the “broad discussions” related to political campaigning and that no job offer was made to Mr Cummings.
A Government spokesperson said: “In full accordance with the ministerial code, meetings with private individuals to discuss political matters do not need to be declared.”
The ministerial code requires ministers to publish details of any meetings held with external individuals where official business was discussed, including what areas of policy were covered.
It says that information about any meetings where Government business was discussed without a private secretary or official present, for example at a social occasion or on holiday, “should be passed back to the department as soon as possible after the event”.
i understands no other officials were present during the two meetings between Mr Sunak and Mr Johnson’s former aide.
However, Wendy Chamberlain, the Lib Dems’ chief whip, claimed it marked “a clear breach of the ministerial code”, adding: “These shady attempts to bring back Cummings through the back door need to be properly scrutinised.
“We urgently need to know why these meetings weren’t declared in the proper way, and if any officials were present or informed… the public deserves full transparency, not another cover up.”
Mr Cummings claimed he offered to secure an election deal with the Prime Minister if Mr Sunak promised to sort out a range of policy matters, but that the pair failed to reach an agreement.
The former Vote Leave director reportedly urged Mr Sunak to abandon his cautious economic approach, hold an emergency budget, settle the NHS strikes and double the threshold at which people pay the 40p rate of income tax from £50,271 to £100,000.
“He wanted a secret deal in which I delivered the election and he promised to take government seriously after the election,” Mr Cummings told The Sunday Times.
“I said I was only prepared to build a political machine to smash Labour and win the election if he would commit to No 10 truly prioritising the most critical things.”
Mr Cummings suggested the deal fell apart when Mr Sunak refused to commit to those things, and that the former chief aide would rather see the Tory party crumble than offer advice without assurances on key policy issues.
“I’d rather the Tories lose than continue in office without prioritising what’s important and the voters,” he wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
“If not, I’d rather [the] Tories [were] obliterated and replaced/re-founded.”
One Tory MP told i Mr Cummings “should be staying as far away from No 10 as possible. The public don’t like him.”
A senior Tory source added: “The Covid inquiry showed a lot about [Dominic Cummings’s] attitude to Government and Whitehall… I hope it’s true that there was no job offer and he isn’t coming back.”
Labour accused the Prime Minister for “secretly begging Mr Barnard Castle to run Downing Street again”, saying it showed he was “out of ideas and too weak to come up with his own”.
Meanwhile Nadine Dorries, former culture secretary and close ally of Mr Johnson, accused the Prime Minister of lying about his dealings with Mr Cummings.
“Sunak has repeatedly denied on the record having contact with Cummings, which makes him an on the record liar,” she said.
Mr Sunak ruled out any potential pact with Mr Cummings during the Tory leadership race last summer, although his comments came before the two meetings with the former aide.
“Dominic Cummings has absolutely nothing to do with this campaign and will have absolutely nothing to do with any Government that I’m privileged to lead,” he said following a speech launching his leadership bid last July.
Ms Dorries, whose recent book The Plot claims there was a concerted conspiracy to kick Mr Johnson out of office, also suggested that the Prime Minister owed Mr Cummings a favour for helping overthrow the former leader.
“Sunak owes Cummings big time,” she said.
Mr Sunak’s resignation as chancellor last July triggered Mr Johnson’s downfall, but the Prime Minister has always denied that he intentionally sabotaged Mr Johnson’s premiership for his own political gain.
Jonathan Ashworth, Labour’s shadow paymaster general, claimed the Prime Minister had “misled, if not lied to the British people”.
“He actually stood on a podium and said Dominic Cummings would have nothing to do with his Government – his words. And now he’s on his knees, begging Mr Cummings to return to Downing Street,” Mr Ashworth told Sky News.
“He’s not being straight with the British people.
“He cannot deliver on his promises, whether that’s fixing the NHS, whether that’s easing the cost of living crisis, because he put up tax or stopping the boats. All the promises that he makes to the British people, he breaks.”
