Channel 4's highly-anticipated Brexit drama will air tonight in which Benedict Cumberbatch plays political strategist Dominic Cummings who is considered the "mastermind" of the Leave campaign.
James Graham is the playwright behind Brexit: The Uncivil War which documents how eccentric Mr Cummings helped Vote Leave to victory in the 2016 referendum campaign.
Political strategist Mr Cummings is not well-known by the general public but was hugely influential to the Leave campaign and masterminded the 'take back control' and £350m for the NHS slogans.
He has not held back with his opinions on other high-profile Brexiteers including David Davis who he once labelled as “lazy as a toad” and as “thick as mince”.
Who is Dominic Cummings and what was his involvement in the Vote Leave campaign?
Born in Durham, Mr Cummings was privately educated and later attended Oxford University, graduating with a degree in Ancient and Modern History.
In 2010, Michael Gove appointed him as his Chief of Staff and he quickly made waves in Whitehall. In 2013, he was accused by civil servants in the Department for Education for creating a “us-and-them, aggressive, intimidating culture.”
After leaving the post in 2014, he told the Times: “Everyone thinks there’s some moment, like in a James Bond movie, where you open the door and that’s where the really good people are, but there is no door.”
In 2015, Mr Cummings founded the Vote Leave campaign with political strategist Matthew Elliot.
His campaign strategy is said to have included the following points: “Don’t talk about immigration,” “Do talk about business,” “Don’t make the referendum final,” “Do keep mentioning the Charter of Fundamental Rights and the over-reach of the European Union’s Court of Justice.”
He came up with the famous campaign slogan: "Vote leave, take back control". Tory Brexiteers Michael Gove and Boris Johnson became the faces of the campaign.
In July 2018, the Electoral Commission announced Vote Leave had been found guilty of breaking electoral law by overspending. The group was fined £61,000 and referred to the police.
Mr Cummings has not given an media interviews about the drama but his wife Mary Wakefield signalled that the family were happy with Mr Cumberbatch's portrayal of him. She detailed in the Spectator last month how the actor had come round to the house for a dinner of "vegan pie."
She said it was a "relief" that he had come not to judge her husband but to "become him" and added that he "looks so like him in the trailer".
What is Brexit: the Uncivil War about?
The one-off drama shines the spotlight on the lead up to the Brexit referendum and how Mr Cummings and his team built a campaign that shook the political establishment.
Politicians Michael Gove (Oliver Maltman), Boris Johnson (Richard Goulding), Nigel Farage (Paul Ryan) and Arron Banks (Lee Boardman) are all portrayed in the drama.
Mr Cumberbatch has said he hopes the film will achieve.
“This is about a specific aspect of the referendum campaign. It’s about revealing and unearthing that,” he said.
“It is not about how to solve it or what went wrong or right, it’s just about how those moments occurred. It doesn’t lecture. It’s not censorious, and it’s certainly not didactic.”
- Brexit: the Uncivil War airs on Channel 4 at 9pm on Monday
