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Boris Johnson's top aide said Tory MPs don't care about the poor or the NHS in a damning speech just two years ago.

Dominic Cummings issued the scathing verdict at a 2017 conference - exposing his view of the government he's now tasked to run.

It comes days after Prime Minister hired the ex-Vote Leave boss as a senior advisor, with Mr Cummings choosing the seat closest to Mr Johnson's office door in 10 Downing Street.

Mr Cummings, described as a "career psychopath" by former PM David Cameron, is infamous for his hardline approach to politicians and has already moved to centralise power in No10.

His approach will now cause even more fireworks in the party after a video of his 2017 remarks was published by The Guardian.

(Image: PA)

He said: "What is one of the core problems of the Tory party brand? NHS.

"People think - and by the way I think most people are right - 'The Tory party is run by people who basically don’t care about people like me'.

"That is what most people in the country have thought about the Tory party for decades.

"I know a lot of Tory MPs, and I am sad to say the public is basically correct."

As the crowd laughed, he continued: "Tory MPs largely do not care about these poorer people. They don’t care about the NHS.

"And the public kind of has cottoned on to that."

(Image: PA)

Labour Party chair Ian Lavery said: "As Dominic Cummings says himself, the Conservatives don’t care about anything apart from looking after their rich friends.

"Whether that means selling off our NHS to American corporations in pursuit of a Trump trade deal, or giving tax cuts to big businesses while cutting public services.

"We need a general election and a Labour government to protect our health service from the likes of Boris Johnson."

Mr Cummings made his remarks after seven years of brutal Tory austerity - and after making a false promise to return £350m a week from the EU to the NHS in the Vote Leave campaign.

He used his 2017 speech to explain why Mr Johnson - and fellow Vote Leave campaign committee member Michael Gove - had supported the Brexit bus lie.

Talking of the public's lack of trust of the Tories, he siaid: "Boris [Johnson] and Michael [Gove] realised this.

(Image: PA Archive/PA Images)

"And I think, not only from a self-preservation point of view but also just from a politically smart point of view, they understood the power of actually delivering."

A friend of Dominic Cummings said today: "Dom was clear that he thinks the British public care most about leaving the EU and want more money for the NHS."

Downing Street declined to comment.

MPs voiced their fury after Dominic Cummings returned to the top tier of British politics despite being found in contempt of Parliament just months ago.

It came hot on the heels of Mr Johnson rehiring hardline Brexiteer Priti Patel to his Cabinet - despite the fact she was sacked over off-the-books meetings in Israel.

Dominic Cummings was one of the architects of the official Vote Leave campaign, serving as its campaign director, during the EU referendum in 2016.

(Image: PA)

He is said to have been a mastermind behind Vote Leave's most controversial messages, including the bus that falsely claimed we send £350million a week to the EU and messages misleadingly claiming Turkey was joining the EU.

His famously bullish style was portrayed by Benedict Cumberbatch in a TV drama on the infighting that plagued the Leave camp.

He branded Tory Brexiteers in the ERG "useful idiots", called top Tory David Davis "thick as mince", claimed some Tory Brexiteers spent the referendum "chasing girls" and other Brexiteer economists were "charlatans".

Earlier this year he was found in contempt of Parliament for refusing to give evidence to a committee investigating "fake news". Yet Boris Johnson claimed he has served his time.