If there can be one definitive summary of Cummings’ select committee appearance, it’s that he really does not like Matt Hancock. He may have thrown other key government officials under the bus – he’s reversed it over Hancock for good measure. Not only did he claim he and the Cabinet Secretary told the PM Matt Hancock should have been fired for “10 or 15 things”, he has also accused the Health Secretary of telling falsehoods about testing in care homes. Cummings claims the PM came close to sacking him last April…

Boris’s desire to remove Matt Hancock in the next reshuffle is widely-rumoured in SW1. Last week Sky News speculated we could have faced a reshuffle today, which would likely have spelt the end for the Health Secretary; the claims were immediately quashed by numerous sources, however, including to Guido directly when he made inquiries. He now hears from allies of the PM that a reshuffle should absolutely not be expected before July 21^st. Given Parliament’s summer recess begins the day after and runs through to September 6^th, it would seem rational to suspect the obvious date for a reshuffle will be between September 6^th and the start of Tory conference on October 3^rd. Hancock may inadvertently end up being the 8th longest-serving Health Secretary since the war…