Dominic Cummings lifts the lid on ‘sticky’ time spent in isolation with wife Mary and their four-year-old son when he was ill with coronavirus saying he enjoyed listening to them ‘bicker like an old married couple’
- Boris Johnson’s chief of staff wrote about lockdown in the Spectator magazine
- He spent a fortnight at home with wife Mary and their son Alexander while ill
- Revealed he enjoyed listening to them ‘discuss what the birds are thinking’
- Here’s how to help people impacted by Covid-19
Boris Johnson’s Downing Street fixer Dominic Cummings has given a rare insight into his private life, lifting the lid on his home life while ill with coronavirus.
The No 10 aide and Vote Leave mastermind used an article in the Spectator to discuss the ‘sticky’ time he spent at home with his wife Mary Wakefield and their four-year-old son Alexander.
He discussed the fortnight at the end of March and the start of this month when he was off work with suspected coronavirus – after the pandemic struck down Boris Johnson and Health Secretary Matt Hancock.
Mr Cummings, 48, was among a host of Tory figures asked to describe their coronavirus experience living with writers for the Conservative bible for this week’s edition.
He described their experience as ‘sticky’ ,because their London home is ‘covered in a layer of spilt Ribena, honey, peanut butter and playschool glue’.
Mr Cummings with his wife Mary outside their London home last year, after he had begun working for Mr Johnson
Mr Cummings arriving at No 10 this morning for the daily Covid-19 meeting.
He said his wife ‘made a castle out of polystyrene and cardboard; she pretends it’s for our son, but it isn’t’.
And in a glimpse into his own personality, he added: ‘I have to talk a lot more at work than I like — I like quiet.
‘Being with Mary in lockdown means I think I am talking all day and Mary thinks she’s starved of conversation.
‘But I like listening to her and our four-year-old. They bicker like an old married couple and discuss what the birds are thinking.’
The couple married in 2011. Mary is a journalist for the Spectator and the daughter of Sir Humphry Tyrrell Wakefield, owner of Chillingham Castle and a friend of Prince Philip.
The Prime Minister’s chief of staff was confirmed by No 10 as self-isolating with coronavirus-type symptoms on March 30, three days after Mr Johnson himself went into self-isolation.
But he took a fortnight away from No 10, sparking fears over his health at a time when the Prime Minister was hospitalised.
Advice for those with symptoms is to isolate for seven days, with a 14-isolation for those around them.
Downing Street has insisted he has been working from home in the intervening period, but would not elaborate on his condition.