At least five of Boris Johnson’s key aides have resigned. Here’s a roundup of who has left, who may go next and who is likely to remain.
Who’s gone
Munira Mirza
Johnson’s longstanding policy chief, Mirza resigned on Thursday with a blistering letter criticising Boris Johnson’s attempt to smear Keir Starmer over the failure to prosecute Jimmy Savile.
Jack Doyle
Johnson’s communications director, Doyle took over from James Slack, the former adviser whose leaving party was held on the eve of Prince Philip’s funeral and is being investigated by the Met.
A former Daily Mail journalist, Doyle is believed to have been involved both in some of the gatherings and in Johnson’s initial response to the revelations.
Martin Reynolds
Johnson previously worked with Reynolds in the Foreign Office, and brought him in to be his principal private secretary – a powerful gatekeeper role.
Reynolds was the author of a leaked email urging colleagues to “bring your own booze” to a gathering on 20 May 2020. He is returning to the Foreign Office.
Dan Rosenfield
A former Treasury official who had joined the private sector, Rosenfield was a surprise appointment when he was announced as Johnson’s chief of staff in 2020, after Dominic Cummings left Downing Street. He had been criticised as lacking political nous though Johnson trusted him, involving him closely in reshuffles, for example.
Elena Narozanski
The special adviser to Johnson on women and equalities, digital, culture, media and sport, and extremism resigned her post in No 10’s policy unit, according to the editor of Conservative Home.
Who’s at risk
Dougie Smith
Munira’s partner is a longstanding Tory aide who works at Downing Street. He is known to be close to the leadership frontrunner Rishi Sunak.
Simon Case
Handpicked by Johnson and brought back into Whitehall from Kensington Palace, Case was initially put in charge of investigating “partygate”, but stepped aside after it emerged that a lockdown gathering was held in his own office.
Alex Chalk
Chalk is not a No 10 adviser but a minister, the solicitor general. Reportedly on resignation watch from the whips, he represents the marginal seat of Cheltenham and may feel that standing up for Johnson over partygate and the Savile comments is unlikely to be popular with his constituents. If he did quit, it would signal the crisis has moved beyond Johnson’s Downing Street operation.
Who remains
Henry Cook, Henry Newman and Simone Finn
Many of Johnson’s remaining senior advisers were formerly close to the levelling-up secretary, Michael Gove – they include “the two Henries”, Cook and Newman, and the deputy chief of staff, Lady Finn.
Andrew Griffith
The new head of Johnson’s policy unit, replacing Mirza, Griffith has been made a minister. He is a former senior business figure who has been an MP since 2019.
Who could be in?
Simon McGee
A former civil service communications chief and ex-Yorkshire Post and Sunday Times journalist, McGee has worked with Johnson in the past while at the Foreign Office. Valued as a sensible type, who is personable and knows how the lobby works, he currently works as a “senior counselor” for the lobbying agency APCO. He could be a possible candidate for communications director.
David Canzini
Canzini has been repeatedly touted for a strategy job in No 10 by those on the right of the party who rate his behind-the-scenes work in pushing for a “clean” Brexit. He is an ally of the elections guru Lynton Crosby for whom he has a role at CT Group. However, No 10 has repeatedly denied reports that he is going in to work there.
Ross Kempsell
Kempsell works in a senior political role for CCHQ and is considered an effective and pragmatic operator. He is former journalist for Times Radio and TalkRADIO, but his roles have been more in strategy than communications, so would be more likely to get a job in that area.
Rosie Bate-Williams
Johnson’s current press secretary has worked her way up through the Tory press officer ranks and is a calm, clear-headed presence in his communications team.
Meg Powell-Chandler
Powell-Chandler has been an aide for many senior cabinet figures and previously worked in David Cameron’s administration. She has previously been in charge of the “grid” of announcements but has since got a more senior role, and could get a promotion.
Rob Oxley
One of the longest standing special advisers in the government, Oxley has worked for Theresa May, Vote Leave, Boris Johnson, Dominic Raab, and now Nadine Dorries. He is an experienced communications operator but it is not clear whether he would want to go back into No 10.
Alex Wild
The director of communications at CCHQ is a former adviser to Priti Patel, the home secretary, and a sharp communicator.
An agency?
One of the ways Johnson could solve the issue of the staff exodus is to second a senior political strategist from an agency on a short-term basis until the ship can be stabilised – if that is possible. One of the problems in making hires so far is that it is risky for any senior political operator to quit a private sector job when Johnson’s future in No 10 is so insecure.
• This article was amended on 5 February 2022. An earlier version said Rob Oxley had also worked for Andrea Leadsom. This has been corrected.
