Dominic Cummings, the former chief adviser to Boris Johnson, is set to testify to MPs today on the UK government’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

The timing comes just over a year after Cummings created widespread controversy by leading the country to his parents’ property in Durham during the first lockdown after his wife developed symptoms related to the coronavirus.

Cummings, who had been a hidden figure in the backdrop of government relations and a key figure in the Vote Leave campaign, has always been a curious figure in modern British politics.

Over the course of his career, Cummings has managed to cultivate a personality for himself that often oscillates between Britain’s most hated man and a clown inclined to hang out on Twitter.

So, with his revealing testimony that should contain some fireworks over his ex-coworkers, we take a quick look back at some of Cummings’ most memorable moments to date.

Quoting cartoon superheroes PJ Masks after being asked about HS2

In February 2020, when the biggest controversy the government faced was over plans to build the HS2 rail link, Cummings, who was opposed to the project, randomly cited the children’s cartoon PJ Masks, for no apparent reason. .

Flee Downing Street after Boris Johnson tests positive for Covid

When Covid first started to cause real concern in the UK – and long before its biggest controversy – Cummings was seen literally sprinting away from 10 Downing Street after Boris Johnson tested positive for the disease, thus creating accidentally a perfect metaphor for government accountability during the pandemic.

Claiming he drove 40 miles to Barnard Castle to ‘test his eyesight’

May 2020 was arguably the month that put Cummings and its unique approach to media on the map. After it was widely reported that the PM’s adviser had apparently broken lockdown rules twice (first driving from London to County Durham, then driving 40 miles to the Barnard Castle beauty site on his wife’s birthday), Cummings faced the media in one of the most bizarre press conferences the UK had ever seen. Of all the weird things said, the most memorable was easily when he said he went to Barnard Castle to ‘test his eyesight’ after defeating the coronavirus. This spawned millions of inevitable memes that still appear occasionally on our timeline to this day.

His stepfather has a black and white horse named ‘Barack’

As you’ve probably guessed by now, Dominic Cummings has some pretty high-ranking friends, but perhaps none more than his stepfather, the English baronet and antiques expert Sir Humphry Tyrrell-Wakefield. In 2017, Wakefield participated in an interview with The Field Sports Channel where he revealed he had a horse named after former US President Barack Obama, so named because he is “half black and half white”. This one isn’t really Cummings’ fault but more because of the pairing but still isn’t a good look for anyone.

Citing Pulp Fiction to government aid

In September 2019, Cummings was causing nothing like the controversy that was to come, but instead quoted classic ’90s movies to government aides. As pressure began to mount on the government following a series of misadventures, it was reported that Cummings told assistants to be ‘cool like Fonzie’, which is actually a line that Samuel L. Jackson said in Quentin Tarantino. pulp Fiction.

You will never see her buzzy name on social media

A curious note about Cummings is that his name is unlikely to be trending on social media. It’s not because no one is talking about him or him being banished from the shadows, but it’s because of porn filters blocking his rude last name. Sometimes you’ll see hashtags related to their name, but not just their last name. It might actually inadvertently be the strangest thing Cummings has ever done and it’s not even his fault.

His offhand response to a Labor MP who had received death threats

In September 2019, before Brexit was completed, Labor MP Karl Turner angrily clashed with Cummings after claiming to have received death threats following an upbeat speech Johnson used in the Commons on leaving the EU . After Turner told him about the type of messages he was getting, Cummings responded nonchalantly by saying ‘do Brexit’ and he didn’t know who Turner was.

Leaving Downing Street with a box of items

Cummings stepped down as Chief Advisor to the Prime Minister on November 13, 2020 and has definitely made sure people know about it. While he hasn’t done much song or dance about it, the image of him walking out the Downing Street front door with a box of his things (surely an unnecessary prop) sparked a frenzy. the same.

With all of that in mind, let’s see what he has to say today …