Allies of Dominic Cummings say a ‘victory party’ was held in Downing Street after he left his job on Friday afternoon.
The celebration was supposedly organised by Boris Johnson’s fiancée Carrie Symonds in the flat where she lives with the Prime Minister inside Number 10.
Those still in the building after the day’s high drama told the Mail on Sunday they could hear the strains of a party coming through the door.
Ms Symonds’ friends deny there was a ‘boisterous celebration’ as both sides continue to brief against each other.
Mr Cummings’ departure from his high profile job on Friday came after a bitter fight with Ms Symonds and her allies during which she was supposedly nicknamed ‘Princess Nut Nuts.’
The two sides fell out over the appointment of the Prime Minister’s new spokeswoman Allegra Stratton and whether long-term Cummings ally Lee Cain should be promoted to Chief of Staff.
Ms Symonds – a former head of press for the Conservative Party – reportedly texts and calls her fiancee several times a day to advise on policy decisions, something those in the Vote Leave camp felt undermined their authority.
According to reports, tensions were heightened in Downing Street when the Prime Minister was shown ‘hostile texts’ briefing against Ms Symonds, which had been forwarded to her.
In the wake of the row, Mr Johnson will attempt to reassert control over his Government by meeting with concerned Conservative MPs this week.
The Sunday Times reported the PM will ‘attempt to get his premiership back on track’ by establishing a policy board that will appeal to northern working class voters who helped win last year’s general election.
The paper said the group will be chaired by the MP Neil O’Brien, who helped former chancellor George Osborne devise the northern powerhouse, and added Mr Johnson will meet the Northern Research Group of MPs on Monday to listen to their concerns.
It comes after leading Tory MPs urged the PM to use the change of personnel to ‘reset the Government’ following complaints the party and Parliament were not being heard during the time Mr Cummings held sway.
Tory former attorney general Dominic Grieve was scathing about Mr Cummings’s time at the centre of power.
He told Times Radio: ‘I consider that he’s created mayhem in government.
‘The whole of his period in government has been marked by a slide in standards so that the Number 10 press office has been used as a vehicle for distributing smears, untruths and lies which was very obvious in the autumn of last year and the period around prorogation and the run up to the general election.
‘This year it’s difficult not to say that he’s created nothing except chaos with the Prime Minister.
‘Whether it’s the handling of Covid and his own behaviour, whether it’s the Internal Markets Bill because quite apart from being utterly wrong in violating international law, that has blown up in the face of the Government and led to a massive rebellion in the Commons and the House of Lords and something of a crisis associated with that.’
Sir Edward Lister was announced as the interim chief of staff pending a permanent appointment, with the Times reporting chief Brexit negotiator Lord Frost, Lord True and Lord Bridges of Headley are each being considered for the role.
The dramatic events have come as Brexit heads to a crucial phase next week, as London seeks a trade deal with Brussels before the end of the transition period on December 31.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman, James Slack, insisted Mr Johnson was not being distracted by the row.
MORE: Dominic Cummings could pull ‘explosive stunt’ in retaliation for losing his job
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source https://metro.co.uk/2020/11/15/carrie-symonds-held-downing-street-victory-party-after-cummings-left-13596771/