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Dominic Cummings has become the most powerful unelected political figure in the country. In many ways, the Government’s agenda has been shaped by his ideas and Prime Minister Boris Johnson has relied heavily on his strategic insights into the mood of voters, gathered from focus groups. It was Mr Cummings who devised the high risk strategy of pushing for an election last year to be fought on a “Get Brexit Done” ticket, focussing on winning seats in Labour heartlands, something no Conservative Party leader had managed to do in decades.

It paid off in spades, just as the “take back control” message he devised as mastermind of the Vote Leave campaign, helped win the Brexit referendum.

Despite receiving a lot of criticism, particularly in recent times due to his trip to Durham during the peak of lockdown, the team around him at Downing Street, some of whom are Vote Leave veterans, appears to be fiercely loyal to him.

As the country still appears to be divided on the Brexit guru’s actions, in an exclusive interview with Express.co.uk, Vote Leave insider and former Ukip MP Douglas Carswell shed some light on Mr Cummings’ career before becoming the Prime Minister’s special adviser.

He revealed that the Brexit guru had to “pass a test” before being hired as director of Vote Leave.

Mr Carswell said: “He was very effective in Vote Leave.

“There were other people who added to his effectiveness, Matthew Elliot for example.

“He was a sensible head as chief executive and there was a strong board.”

He added: “Before we hired Dominic to run Vote Leave, though, the three founding directors, Daniel Hannan, Matthew Elliott and myself had commissioned him to do some research on public attitudes towards the EU.

“Even before it was certain there was going to be a referendum, we commissioned him to do this research.

“And from that research, we then devised a strategy and the strategy was based on the recognition that we did not have to win over committed eurosceptics.

“We had to focus on undecided people.”

In what appeared to be a dig at Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage, he noted: “This is why there was a fierce rivalry between the different camps.

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“We had a clear strategy and had Dominic Cummings in place.”

Mr Carswell also defended the special adviser from recent criticism, adding: “I have known Dominic very well for over 20 years.

“He is incredibly driven, motivated and incredibly bright.

“He has a clarity of thought that very few people in politics possess.

“I only ever saw him – and I saw a lot of Dominic during the Brexit referendum campaign – talking to people with great respect.

“More than that, he was actually someone who was reassuring to the team and staff.

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“Even at times when things were looking pretty bad.”

He noted: “Some people who’ve been in politics for too long, such as some backbench Tory MPs, believe there is a hierarchy and somehow they are at the top of it.

“Dominic is a meritocrat and sometimes that upsets people.

“If you are a Tory party grandee and you think you have defined eurosceptics for 20 years you might not like the new approach.

“I am sure there are civil servants and ministers in the Government who find Dominic’s style jarring.

“But I suspect that actually a lot of Dominic’s critics are criticising him more for their own vanity and pride rather than what he is suggesting is wrong.”

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