PA
A cast-iron pledge made by Rishi Sunak during his leadership campaign has come back to haunt him.
The prime minister laughed off suggestions that Boris Johnson’s former chief aid would have anything to do with any administration he leads back in 2022, but recent revelations have thrown that commitment into doubt.
According to Cummings, the PM had sought a “secret deal” with him in a bid to win next year’s election, allegations which Downing Street has denied.
But the prime minister’s official spokesperson has said a “private political discussion” between the pair had taken place, with the meetings said to have taken place in London in December 2022 and again over dinner in North Yorkshire in July.
Cummings told the Sunday Times he was only prepared to offer his help if Mr Sunak would commit to prioritising the “most critical things”, citing nuclear weapons infrastructure, future pandemics, Ministry of Defence procurement, artificial intelligence (AI) and “broken core Government institutions”.
Labour’s shadow paymaster general Jonathan Ashworth said: “After promising to restore integrity to Downing Street, he’s secretly begging Mr Barnard Castle to run Downing Street again.
“From Cameron to Cummings, the Prime Minister is admitting he’s out of ideas and too weak to come up with his own.”
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