Tories compare Theresa May’s bearded confidante to mystic who advised Russian tsar because of his influence on her
Nick Timothy is said to have been responsible for pledges about has been credited
SENIOR ministers are growing increasingly concerned at the ‘Rasputin-like’ influence Theresa May’s right-hand man, spin doctor and confidante has in the Government.
Nick Timothy is said to be behind Mrs May’s two main policy initiatives since she became Prime Minister – bringing back grammar schools and blocking the Hinkley Point nuclear power plant deal with China.
And ministers say he demands having a big say in all key Government decisions.
This influence has led one to compare him to Rasputin – the Russian peasant and mystical faith healer who was an adviser of Nicholas II, the last Tsar of Russia.
The minister told : “Before Nick came along, Theresa was a clever and attractive politician in search of a distinctive world view. He provided her with one.
“She doesn’t make any decisions without him being involved.
“He has too much power for some of us. She does not need a Rasputin.”
Mr Timothy was at the Cabinet meeting in Chequers last week and instead of sitting behind her with other officials, he was clearly in her line of sight.
This seating position is said to be in line with the close political bond the pair have formed over the last decade.
He is with her at the G20 economic summit and will not be too far behind when she shakes hands with world leaders.
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And back in 2014 when an article in magazine said Theresa May had “given up” on “incompetent lightweight” Cameron, Mr Timothy was named as a source.
Shortly afterwards he was kicked off the Tory MP candidates list.
The Brummie became a Tory aged 12 during the 1992 general election when he was told Labour would shut his grammar school if they won.
Unlike the Oxford-educated David Cameron and George Osborne, he went to university in Sheffield.
There he got a first in politics.
His parents left school at 14 with his dad working for a steel and wire company and his mum doing secretarial and then pastoral work for a local school.
When Mrs May launched her Tory leadership bid he persuaded her to do it in his home town of Birmingham.
And he wrote her first speech as PM on the steps of Number 10 when she pledged to launch a “mission to make Britain a country that works for everyone with ordinary, working-class families”.
Rasputin was assassinated in December 1916 and the Russian Revolution ended the Romanov dynasty just three months later.
Some Tory MPs say Mr Timothy is as essential to Mrs May and she would not be in power much longer without her “Brummie Rasputin”.