Despite public outrage, opinion polls showing a dip in support for the government and members of his own party demanding that Cummings be sacked, the Prime Minister publicly supported his adviser on several occasions, saying he believed that Cummings had acted reasonably, legally and that the matter is now closed.
Critics say Cummings' failure to comply with official regulations and the spirit of government advice poses a risk to public health. They say that citizens could legitimately wonder why there is one rule for Cummings and one for everyone, and start breaking the guidelines themselves.
Johnson's unwavering support for Cummings left him politically exposed.
Many legislators and conservative Johnson officials believe that he was too slow to act after the story broke, and that Cummings appeared dismissive and arrogant when asked about the allegations. Many believe that if Johnson and Cummings had expressed contrition, the story would have disappeared. For some, the sacking of Cummings is the only way out of the crisis.
Instead, the Prime Minister has doubled so clearly that scandal, alleged hypocrisy, the impact he has on government and the damage it could cause to public health are on his shoulders.
All of this begs the question: why is Cummings so precious to Johnson?
If Johnson was the face of the campaign to leave the European Union, Cummings was his brain. Their relationship predates 2016, but it was these months in the Brexit bunker that cemented things.
Sources close to Johnson say the Prime Minister privately admitted that he believed his Brexit bet would not have happened without Cummings' organizational skills.
The success of the Leave campaign has put Cummings in the spotlight. He was portrayed in the media as a Svengali figure who could read public humor and intuitively understand how normal people thought. The climax of "Cummingsmania" saw Benedict Cumberbatch play it in a biopic, detailing how he bypassed political standards to win the most important public vote in modern British history.
People who have worked with Cummings over the years say that public perception is very different from the real man, who is a silent workaholic, obsessed with data, evidence and politicians who dislike that people talk about him. However, Cummings' unorthodox manners and spontaneous comments from journalists added to the mysterious air surrounding a man very often described as a political genius.
All of this partly explains the unique dynamic between Johnson and Cummings. "A special adviser generally works with a borrowed authority. He is the minister's person rather than a full-fledged person," said Salma Shah, former special adviser to the government and the Conservatives. "Dom arrived at work with a level of authority that few had before him. He is not quite on par with Boris, but he is probably the second most important person in government."
It is not only their close relationship that gives Cummings this informal status of second in command. Each government has the ambition to bring about a change that defines long-term heritage. What is different about the Johnson-Cummings project is the scale of this ambition.
"This administration wants to disrupt and dislodge the institutions of the establishment which it claims have been lacking in the public for decades," said Shah. "Dom is the symbolic figurehead of a group of people who have wanted him for years. They are very united and very loyal to him."
Reports vary on Cummings' exact influence on his boss. Several government ministers told CNN that Johnson gave Cummings an unprecedented level of control over the network of advisers in government, which means that many key roles were held by Cummings loyalists who worked for him and reported to him. from him. If Cummings were to leave, conservative sources told CNN that there was a real question mark over whether these advisers would continue to serve the government.
Cummings had previously been the subject of scandals, notably after having removed a councilor sacked from Downing Street by the armed police and hired a person who had expressed his support for eugenics. The fact that Johnson has supported him three times in less than a year is an indication of how much he appreciates Cummings.
Even ministers who find Cummings frustrating in private admit that keeping him might be the best thing. "We are where we are because Boris and Dom won the Brexit referendum and won the election. Anyone who seriously wants to stay in power and does not want this top team to make a courageous call," said a minister for government that was not allowed to speak to the media.
However, there are concerns that Johnson has spent a lot of political capital on a man whose behavior has historically put government in trouble. "Knowing Dom, he will deduce that he is fundamentally invincible," said a senior conservative who has known Cummings for decades. "But the political will of the cabinet may not be there to help it the next time it has a scratch."
Which is why so many people think that removing Cummings now avoids future problems. "He is someone I greatly respect, but I fear he should not have put the government in this position," said Lauren McEvatt, former government special adviser. "I now see no way to advance the story and prevent his actions from having a negative impact on adherence to public health advisories, but for him to withdraw, at least temporarily."
Concerns about meeting public health recommendations are serious. John Ashton, former regional director of public health in England, says the scandal has undermined public confidence in government, "which is essential for effective cooperation during this next fragile phase of the epidemic".
For the moment, it looks like Johnson thinks sticking to Cummings is his best bet and the story will eventually go away. However, it went through more than the previous Cummings scandals and damaged the Johnson government at a critical time.
"In politics, you are always going to be hurt. This is where you wear the scar that matters," says Shah. However, by supporting his counselor with such emphasis, it may be that Johnson's scar is even worse than that of Cummings. And if this story rumors, the Prime Minister may still have to lose the support of the man who has so often helped heal his wounds.
