Keir Starmer has forced out his cabinet secretary, Chris Wormald, with Antonia Romeo likely to succeed him and become the first woman in the job.
The prime minister announced on Thursday that Wormald was stepping down “by mutual consent” after just over a year in the job. He is likely to receive a significant payout, with his salary having been about £200,000 a year.
The Cabinet Office said a process to appoint his successor would now take place, with the role to be split temporarily between three senior officials – Romeo, Cat Little and James Bowler.
Whitehall sources said Romeo was set to get the job as long it was approved through the proper channels of the civil service commissioner. She was deemed an appointable candidate a year ago.
Romeo is viewed as a dynamic official outside the traditional civil service mould, in contrast to Wormald who is being forced out partly over concerns he was not the right person to drive reform in Whitehall.
Starmer is expected to appoint Romeo despite a warning from the former Foreign Office official Simon McDonald on Wednesday that “more due diligence” and a full appointment process should be run.
Romeo, the permanent secretary at the Home Office, has previously faced questions about her spending while consul general in New York in 2017, working under McDonald at the Foreign Office. A subsequent Cabinet Office investigation cleared her of any wrongdoing. When asked about this on Channel 4, McDonald said he would like to discuss this with No 10 through its vetting process.
However, allies of Romeo hit back strongly in her defence. One minister said: “For decades, our country has wanted to rip up the rulebook and do things differently. Antonia will actually do it. She’s restless, focused, creative and understands the scale of the crises this country faces. The leader our civil service needs in these times.
“Frankly, I’m tired of hearing women being called ‘ambitious’ by bald men who’re past their prime. After two establishment men have been found maintaining a relationship with peadophiles, are we going to let another posse of baldies besmirch a brilliant woman who has always riled the establishment by having a bit of chutzpah?”
A government source said: “There is absolutely no basis for this criticism. Antonia Romeo is a highly respected permanent secretary with a 25-year record of excellent public service. The allegations all come from a single grievance made some time ago by a former employee. All the allegations were dismissed on the basis there was no case to answer.”
Romeo won support within the civil service for her warning to Dominic Raab, then justice secretary, over behaviour that led to his being found to have engaged in bullying conduct towards officials. She has impressed Shabana Mahmood at the Home Office.
Starmer gave Wormald the job of cabinet secretary in late 2024 despite the panel having recommended another candidate, Tamara Finkelstein, who has now left the civil service.
Wormald said: “It has been an honour and a privilege to serve as a civil servant for the past 35 years, and a particular distinction to lead the service as cabinet secretary. I want to place on record my sincere thanks to the extraordinary civil servants, public servants, ministers and advisers I have worked with. Our country is fortunate to have such dedicated individuals devoted to public service, and I wish them every success for the future.”
Starmer said: “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. I have agreed with him that he will step down as cabinet secretary today. I wish him the very best for the future.”
No 10 has been criticised over its handling of the situation, with allies of Wormald saying he had been badly treated and learned of his fate through the media.
Dave Penman, the general secretary of the FDA union, told the BBC that the briefing against Wormald had been “extraordinary, not only undermining in terms of … this individual but the role of cabinet secretary, and has a chilling effect across the civil service”. He said: “This is no way to run a country.”