Firm with links to Gove and Cummings given Covid-19 contract without open tender

Research company owned by associates of senior Tory and PM’s adviser gets £840,000 job

• Coronavirus – latest updates
• See all our coronavirus coverage

The Cabinet Office has awarded an £840,000 contract to research public opinion about government policies to a company owned by two long-term associates of Michael Gove and Dominic Cummings, without putting the work out for tender.

Public First, a small policy and research company in London, is run by James Frayne, whose work alongside Cummings – the prime minister’s senior adviser – dates back to a Eurosceptic campaign 20 years ago, and Rachel Wolf, a former adviser to Gove who co-wrote the Conservative party’s 2019 election manifesto.

Continue reading…