If you live in the UK, then you have probably heard of Dominic Cummings, and you probably know that he has been in the news a lot lately. But who is this man? And what is he in trouble for? Then there’s the biggest question yet: What happens next? Dominic Cummings is senior adviser to PM Boris Johnson. He has been involved in politics for many years, however he is not actually a politician, rather a Political Strategist. He has been an adviser to a number of different politicians but is perhaps best known for his involvement in the 2016 Brexit campaign as campaign director of Vote Leave.


Aside from NHS Staff and other key workers, politicians at Downing Street are some of the few people not working from home. This means that there is a higher risk of catching Covid-19, indeed, the PM himself caught it. So, when Cummings’ wife called him on 27th of March, saying that she had fallen seriously ill, he was probably slightly expecting something like this to happen and had probably begun to formulate a plan - that's completely normal. But what’s not normal, was that in said plan, Cummings chose to not adhere to guidelines that he himself had helped to set, and drove 260 miles to his parents’ house in Durham along with his wife and small child. His reasoning was that if anything happened to his wife and himself, his parents would be able to look after his child. Whilst in Durham, Mr Cummings also fell ill and he and his family isolated in Durham for a number of weeks. Later on in their stay, the family drove 25 miles to Barnard Castle, a known beauty spot so that Mr Cummings could check that his eyesight and driving ability were good enough for the long drive back to London. This breaks several lockdown guidelines and is probably not the safest or most effective way to check your eyesight. On the 13th of April Cummings travelled back to London and on the 14th he was seen in Downing Street for the first time in weeks.


What happens next? Though he has not communicated much with the press, Mr Cummings has said that he acted legally and safely and that it clearly says in the rules that there are “exceptional circumstances” when dealing with small children. However, Cummings has faced calls to resign from a whole host of Conservative MPs and the public aren't too happy about it either - Boris Johnson's approval ratings have plummeted, but the PM continues to defend his adviser and doesn't appear to have any plans to fire him. We don't know what will happen now, Cummings is adamant that he acted responsibly but police in Durham have concluded that he may have breached the rules by heading to Barnard Castle. We'll just have to wait and see, but in the meantime: Stay alert, Control the virus and Save lives.