Why Conservatives believe nobody outside politics cares about Dominic Cummings' revelations

"I didn't even bother to tune in", one Conservative told The Yorkshire Post when asked what they made of Dominic Cummings' explosive testimony. "No-one outside our little world really cares very much."
Dominic Cummings, former Chief Adviser to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, holds up a document whilst giving evidence to a joint inquiry of the Commons Health and Social Care and Science and Technology Committees on the subject of Coronavirus: lessons learnt. Pic: PADominic Cummings, former Chief Adviser to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, holds up a document whilst giving evidence to a joint inquiry of the Commons Health and Social Care and Science and Technology Committees on the subject of Coronavirus: lessons learnt. Pic: PA
Dominic Cummings, former Chief Adviser to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, holds up a document whilst giving evidence to a joint inquiry of the Commons Health and Social Care and Science and Technology Committees on the subject of Coronavirus: lessons learnt. Pic: PA

While Westminster and Whitehall reel from the marathon evidence session given by Boris Johnson's most trusted advisor about the litany of alleged failings over the course of the pandemic, it may well be the case that in the real world the impact is more muted.

While many around the country consider the Prime Minister to be a liar - with a YouGov poll finding that only 38 per cent trust him to tell the truth about the last 16 months - even more consider his former aide to be untrustworthy.

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And as pollster James Johnson argues, after the agony of three lockdowns and tens of thousands of deaths the public has already made up their mind about how our leaders handled the pandemic.

While few would argue in hindsight that the Government made multiple major mistakes and should have been faster to lock down, he says, it's also widely agreed that Ministers and officials were in unprecedented territory.

Meanwhile the roaring success of the vaccine programme gives a genuine prospect of a return to normality and brighter future which the country is desperate to embrace.

Conservatives who spoke to The Yorkshire Post insist that the decisions made by senior politicians didn't come up on the doorstep with voters in this month's local elections.

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One cited Maslow's hierarchy of needs, a theory of motivation which states that five categories of human needs dictate an individual's behavior, for why voters struggling to make ends meet would not pay undue attention to the machinations of government.

And while Mr Cummings' colourful, expletive-laden account put flesh on the bones of the country's lack of preparedness for the pandemic to come, it will likely only reinforce rather than change the narrative that has been established for months.

This may explain why Labour not only failed to make major gains in the local elections but actually went backwards in many areas, failing to take advantage of a party that has been in power for more than a decade.

As one Labour MP put it, when asked if the hearing would make any difference to politics as a whole: "My feeling is that it will cut through but the fact that the PM is dishonest and incapable is accepted."

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Another party colleague suggested that such is Mr Johnson's infuriatingly Teflon-like political qualities, he could "sever the head of the first born and people would still say 'good old Boris'".

The question, they argued, was whether the new revelations will put enough of a dent in this to ensure the PM does not lead the party into the next election.

Voters may consider Boris Johnson to be "unfit for the job" he holds, but with Labour struggling to make an impact so far this may not be enough to stop his party retaining power.