But no moment was as significant as the prime minister’s response to Dominic Cummings’s trip to Barnard Castle. The drive itself might well have been forgiven, but the sneering attitude
from Cummings himself, as well as the prime minister’s failure to sack him, cut deep as people felt their own personal sacrifices were now meaningless. The final blow was the explanation that Cummings drove 20 miles to test his eyesight – which prompted ridicule, derision, and
collective scorn. Far from the “Westminster bubble” story that Cummings felt it was, it was a saga that gripped the country. In a focus group I ran with former Labour voters from Bridgend, only two could name the leader of the Labour party, but every single one of them knew who Downing Street’s chief of staff was.
People are right to say that voters may not remember Barnard Castle by the time of the next election. But the impact it has had on the Conservative brand may well outlast memory of the event. In a
poll of red wall voters by my firm, JL Partners, the Conservatives lag Labour on which party “shares your values” and “stands up for people like me”. The old concerns about the Tory brand are rearing their head again among the first-time Conservative voters. They have no natural affinity for the Conservatives, and the events around Barnard Castle are named as one of their main reasons to now doubt the Conservatives’ intentions.