On 26 May 2020, Douglas Ross resigned as parliamentary under-secretary of state for Scotland in protest at the prime minister’s chief adviser, Dominic Cummings, remaining in post after he appeared to break Covid-19 lockdown rules.

Cummings was a staple of Boris Johnson’s inner circle during this period. He had masterminded the official Vote Leave campaign during the 2016 referendum on Britain’s membership of the European Union (EU), and was subsequently seen as crucial in the government’s decision to advise Queen Elizabeth II to prorogue parliament in August 2019.

On 2 January 2020, Cummings published a lengthy blog post calling for “weirdos and misfits with odd skills” to apply for jobs in No 10.

One month later, Cummings played a controversial role in Johnson’s first cabinet reshuffle since the 2019 general election. He reportedly ordered Sajid Javid, the chancellor, to dismiss his entire team of special advisers and replace them with ones selected by 10 Downing Street. Javid resigned.

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In May 2020, reports emerged revealing that in late March, Cummings – while his wife had Covid-19 symptoms – had driven 260 miles from London to his parents’ farm near Durham with his family. During their stay, he also made a 60-mile round trip to the town of Barnard Castle, which he claimed was to test his eyesight before the long drive back to London.

These journeys were in apparent breach of the government’s own strict ‘stay at home’ guidance. The prime minister, Boris Johnson, stood by his adviser.

This reporting sparked a fierce political backlash both within and beyond the Conservative Party.

Steve Baker, the chair of the influential European Research Group (ERG) of eurosceptic Conservative MPs, said: “The country can’t afford this nonsense, this pantomime, Dominic should go and we should move on and deal with things that matter in people’s lives.”

Jeremy Hunt, the former cabinet minister, claimed that Cummings had breached the lockdown rules on three occasions: upon returning to work after he spent time with his wife when she was ill, and in visiting both Durham and Barnard Castle.

On 25 May, Cummings held an extraordinary press conference in the Downing Street rose garden to defend his actions. During the press conference, Cummings offered no apology and insisted he had acted “reasonably and legally”. He argued that there was “no regulation covering the situation I found myself in”.

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Cummings said: “I don’t regret what I did… I think what I did was actually reasonable in these circumstances. The rules made clear that if you are dealing with small children that can be exceptional circumstances.”

He added: “I don’t think I’m so different, and I don’t think there’s one rule for me and one rule for other people… there is no regulation covering the situation I found myself in.”

Ross resigned on the morning of 26 May.

In his resignation statement, Ross – the leader of the Scottish Conservative Party – stated that he could not “in good faith” tell his constituents who had made sacrifices during the lockdown that Cummings’ interpretation of the rules was correct.

He wrote: “I have constituents who didn’t get to say goodbye to loved ones; families who could not mourn together; people who didn’t visit sick relatives because they followed the guidance of the government. I cannot in good faith tell them they were all wrong and one senior advisor to the government was right.

“This is not a decision I have reached quickly. I have waited to hear all of the information and thought long and hard over this. I realise both the immediate and long-term implications of my decision to resign from government.”

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Ross was the only government minister to resign over the affair and Cummings survived.

But the political capital expended over the affair seemed scarcely justified.

Cummings ultimately departed Downing Street in November 2020 – the culmination of a protracted power struggle between him and other members of the prime minister’s inner circle, including the prime minister’s then-fiancée, Carrie Symonds.

Cummings was famously photographed leaving through the front door of Downing Street carrying a cardboard box.

On 26 May 2021, Cummings appeared before the House of Commons health and science select committees for a seven-hour oral evidence session. He told MPs the government had failed the public during the pandemic.

“Tens of thousands of people died who didn’t need to die”, he stated.

Cummings described Johnson as a “shopping trolley”, smashing from one side of the aisle to the other.

He also alleged that in October 2020, Johnson had expressed a preference to “let the bodies pile high in their thousands” rather than order a second lockdown. Downing Street denied the quote.

On 18 January 2022, Dominic Cummings, Johnson’s former chief adviser, alleged that the prime minister knew in advance about the “bring-your-own-booze” gathering on 20 May 2020 and agreed that it could go ahead.

In a post to his Substack, Cummings said he would “swear under oath” that he raised concerns about the gathering.

Cummings wrote on his Substack: “Amid discussion over the future of the cabinet secretary and PPS himself, which had been going on for days, I said to the PM something like: ‘Martin’s invited the building to a drinks party, this is what I’m talking about, you’ve got to grip this madhouse.’

“The PM waved it aside.”

He added: “The events of 20 May alone, never mind the string of other events, mean the PM lied to parliament about parties.”

Johnson resigned as prime minister in July 2022.