Sir Chris Wormald is stepping down as Britain's top civil servant after just 14 months in the role. The Cabinet Secretary's departure marks the third senior adviser to quit Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer's team in the past week, as the PM attempts to reset his Downing Street operation following recent controversies over appointments.
Starmer announced that Wormald's resignation was agreed "by mutual decision" and expressed gratitude for his service. «I am very grateful to Sir Chris for his long and distinguished career of public service, spanning more than 35 years, and for the support that he has given me over the past year,» the Prime Minister said. «I have agreed with him that he will step down as Cabinet Secretary today. I wish him the very best for the future.»
Three interim replacements have been immediately announced: Dame Antonia Romeo, the Home Office permanent secretary, alongside Cat Little from the Cabinet Office and James Bowler from the Treasury. The Cabinet Office confirmed that a new permanent cabinet secretary is expected to be appointed shortly.
Controversy Over Successor
Dame Antonia Romeo is seen as a potential permanent successor and is regarded as a high-flyer in the Civil Service. However, her possible appointment has sparked controversy. She was reportedly investigated in 2017 over expenses and bullying claims while serving as Britain's consul general in New York, though she was cleared by the Cabinet Office.
Lord Simon McDonald, a former Foreign Office mandarin, made a rare intervention warning against «doing the due diligence too late» regarding Romeo's potential appointment. He suggested the recruitment process should «start from scratch.»
A Government source rejected the criticism, stating there was «absolutely no basis for this criticism.» Another source defended Romeo as «a disrupter» and called McDonald's intervention «a desperate attempt from a senior male official whose time has passed but spent their career getting Britain into the mess it finds itself in today.»
Political Fallout
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch accused Starmer of throwing Wormald «under the bus in order to save his own skin.» The timing of the departure comes amid broader personnel changes in Downing Street, with chief of staff Morgan McSweeney and communications director Tim Allan also quitting in recent days.
Wormald's appointment in December 2024 had raised eyebrows, given Starmer's stated desire to "rewire the British state" with fresh leadership. The career civil servant joined the Civil Service in 1991 and held permanent secretary roles across multiple departments before succeeding Simon Case as Cabinet Secretary.
Note: This article was created with Artificial Intelligence (AI).
