Former communications director criticizes Johnson’s handling of Covid
A series of Covid U-turns made by Boris Johnson’s government were like a “slow-moving car crash” that saw it make the same mistake “over and over again,” according to Lee Cain, who served as Johnson’s director of communications from July 2019 until the end of 2020, reports BritPanorama.
Cain’s comments, made during an appearance on In the Room podcast, reflect on the “avoidable” mistakes within No 10 that he claims drove the communications team “bonkers.” He noted that these blunders were particularly evident at the onset of the pandemic.
“It was just a slow-moving car crash,” Cain remarked. “It happened quite a few times. Luckily, I think, even in politics, once people make the same mistake over and over again, they did start listening.”
During the pandemic, Mr. Johnson was forced to reverse several significant policy decisions. He initially ruled out a second national lockdown—calling Sir Keir Starmer’s support for such a measure “the height of absurdity”—only for the second lockdown to begin on 5 November 2020.
In January 2021, the then Prime Minister encouraged parents to send their children back to school, only to reverse that decision hours later, announcing the closure of all schools in England. In August 2020, amid mounting pressure, the government scrapped controversial plans to base A-level results on an algorithm, leading to public apologies for the distress caused to students and parents.
Cain recounted discussions in No 10 regarding keeping pubs and bars open while discouraging visitation. He attributed this idea to Mr. Johnson and commented, “I remember saying… this won’t last 24 hours. We will not hold this position because people will simply ask, ‘If people shouldn’t go, why don’t we close the pubs and clubs?’”
He predicted a swift U-turn if that plan proceeded, recalling, “Boris would lament the whole thing and say, ‘Well, how did we get in this idea? I never thought of – I didn’t want to do this. How did we end up in this position?’”
Cain concluded that the entirety of the situation during the early pandemic was “bonkers because it was so avoidable.” He maintained that, thankfully, even in politics, persistent mistakes eventually lead to listening and learning. This perspective on communication failures underlines the complexities of governance amid a global crisis.
