Sunderland Conservatives say Boris Johnson's chief advisor Dominic Cummings should go

Sunderland City Council's Conservative group say the Prime Minister's closest advisor Dominic Cummings should quit after he admitted driving 260 miles to the North East during the lockdown.
Coun Antony Mullen, deputy leader of Sunderland City Council’s Conservatives, and Dominic Cummings and Boris Johnson.Coun Antony Mullen, deputy leader of Sunderland City Council’s Conservatives, and Dominic Cummings and Boris Johnson.
Coun Antony Mullen, deputy leader of Sunderland City Council’s Conservatives, and Dominic Cummings and Boris Johnson.

The controversial advisor and right hand man to the Prime Minister has been under pressure to stand down following the revelation he broke rules to travel to Durham at the height of the coronavirus lockdown.

And now Boris Johnson’s party allies in Sunderland have added their voices to demands for him to go and called for political interests to be set aside.

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“Personally, I’m quite disappointed that [some Conservative supporters] don’t share my view that he should resign,” said Coun Antony Mullen, deputy leader of Sunderland City Council’s Conservative group.

Coun Antony Mullen, deputy leader of Sunderland City Council’s Conservatives.Coun Antony Mullen, deputy leader of Sunderland City Council’s Conservatives.
Coun Antony Mullen, deputy leader of Sunderland City Council’s Conservatives.

“A lot of people seem to be very defensive of him and I don’t think it should be a partisan issue.

“Some of the criticism has been unfair and mobs outside his house aren’t appropriate, but it’s clear from public polling it is not tenable for him to remain in place, it’s far too damaging.”

Speaking to journalists in Downing Street on Monday, May 25, Cummings admitted travelling to his father’s farm in Durham in late March and staying in a cottage on the family’s land with his wife and son.

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At one point during the stay he also drove to Barnard Castle, in the south of County Durham, to see if he ‘could drive safely’ due to concerns about eyesight after suffering suspected Covid-19.

Another Wearside Conservative councillor, who did not want to be named, feared the aide’s actions could prompt a rise in numbers of people flouting lockdown regulations.

But Coun Mullen does not think it will have a significant impact on what he claimed was already a problem.

“I had concerns before this because of the number of people not following the rules,” he added.

“I think there’s a sense of fatigue already.

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“I think most people understand within the guidelines, even if he wasn’t within the spirit of them, but I wouldn’t put myself or others at risk just because Dominic Cummings has done something different.”

Coun Robert Oliver, the leader of the Wearside’s Conservatives, said Coun Mullen’s views reflected that of the wider political group in the city, but added the issue was ‘up to the Prime Minister’ to resolve.

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