Science at centre of Cummings’ civil service shake-up

Prime minister’s chief adviser appeals for academics to work with him in 10 Downing Street

As rumours of a wholesale overhaul of the civil service reach fever pitch, the prime minister’s chief adviser has put out an open call for researchers to join him and other ‘unusual’ people at the heart of Westminster.

Dominic Cummings issued a rambling appeal for academics to work with him in Downing Street on 2 January, seeking “weirdos and misfits with odd skills” and specifically name-checking economists, data scientists and physicists.