LONDON — Britain is looking for a few good weirdos.
That’s the word from one of Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s top advisers, who in a lengthy blog post Friday appealed for a wide range of applicants for government positions.
Dominic Cummings said one of his goals is to attract “super-talented weirdos” to government posts.

“We need some true wild cards, artists, people who never went to university and fought their way out of an appalling hell hole, weirdos,” said Cummings, who has been a lightning rod for controversy during his tenure at 10 Downing Street.
He is a former director of the campaign to lead Britain out of the European Union who has helped shape many of Johnson’s policies. Cummings’ blog post is something of a screed against Britain’s elites, even though Johnson was educated at Britain’s uppermost educational institutions.
“If you want to figure out what characters around Putin might do, or how international criminal gangs might exploit holes in our border security, you don’t want more Oxbridge English graduates,” he blogged.
He said change is needed because there are “some profound problems at the core of how the British state makes decisions.”
Cummings’ strategy helped Johnson win an impressive victory in the Dec. 12 election. He said in the blog that the government’s strength in Parliament means it can concentrate on vital matters.
He described it as “a new government with a significant majority and little need to worry about short-term unpopularity while trying to make rapid progress with long-term problems” and urged people to apply for positions.
Comments are not available on this story. Read more about why we allow commenting on some stories and not on others.
We believe it's important to offer commenting on certain stories as a benefit to our readers. At its best, our comments sections can be a productive platform for readers to engage with our journalism, offer thoughts on coverage and issues, and drive conversation in a respectful, solutions-based way. It's a form of open discourse that can be useful to our community, public officials, journalists and others.
We do not enable comments on everything — exceptions include most crime stories, and coverage involving personal tragedy or sensitive issues that invite personal attacks instead of thoughtful discussion.
You can read more here about our commenting policy and terms of use. More information is also found on our FAQs.
Show less