Lee Cain fallout: Tory MPs ‘unhappy for some time’ at No 10 operations

There has been “unhappiness” about Downing Street operations for some time, a leading Tory backbencher has said, following the resignation of one of Boris Johnson’s most senior aides.

Lee Cain announced he would step down as director of communications on Wednesday after ministers and advisers, including the prime minister’s fiancee, Carrie Symonds, are said to have protested over his planned promotion to chief of staff.

Sir Charles Walker, the vice-chairman of the 1922 Committee of backbench Conservative MPs, said MPs had felt excluded from decision-making processes.

He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Thursday morning: “I think there has been unhappiness about the No 10 operation for some time. Members of parliament have felt excluded from the decision-making process, and that’s no secret.

“The real opportunity here is for the chief of staff position to be filled by someone who has good links with the Conservative party and its representation in the House of Commons.”

His departure also threw into doubt the future of one of Cain’s close allies, Johnson’s most senior adviser, Dominic Cummings, with an insider telling the Guardian he could also leave No 10.

Cummings is said to have been furious that Cain, a fellow Vote Leave campaigner who was partly credited with bringing him into Downing Street, had in effect been forced out, while speculation remains about other potential resignations from within Johnson’s inner circle.

The Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer, described the internal fallout amid the coronavirus crisis as “pathetic”.

He told LBC on Thursday: “I think millions of people will be waking up this morning, scratching their heads, saying what on earth is going on? We’re in the middle of a pandemic, we’re all worried about our health and our families, we’re all worried about our jobs, and this lot are squabbling behind the door of No 10.

“It’s pathetic. Pull yourselves together, focus on the job in hand.”

The housing secretary, Robert Jenrick, denied there was a rift, saying No 10 was focused on handling the pandemic and its economic repercussions. “The prime minister has a strong team around him and all of us, whether it’s his advisers or the cabinet, are focused on the big task,” he told the Today programme.

He said Cain had been “a highly valued member of the prime minister’s team”, and that Johnson had expressed regret at his resignation. “In my experience the prime minister has good relations with his colleagues in parliament,” he said. “What the public are interested in is our focus on the virus and that I can assure you is the sole focus of the government.

“Charles Walker and our colleagues in parliament would agree that the party and the government have a singular national mission, which is to support the public through this challenging period.”

Cain is due to step down next month. He is expected to be replaced by Johnson’s chief spokesman, James Slack.

The chief of staff post is yet to be filled as part of a wider reorganisation of No 10, in which the former journalist Allegra Stratton will become the face of new daily televised press briefings.