Civil Service Cabinet Secretary has resigned - thoughts?

[JennyWren5]

www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/feb/12/chris-wormald-steps-down-cabinet-secretary-starmer

Thought I’d post about this news as I’m a civil servant and keen to hear what others think about it. Guessing this will be of most interest to other civil servants!

The Cabinet Secretary resigned today and he’s expected to be replaced by Antonia Romeo.

I’m a bit worried she’ll get the role, as I worked under her - but not directly with her - when she was Permanent Secretary in another department before her current Home Office role. I’m wary of the culture she’ll set in the CS if she does become Cab Sec.

What do others think?

Re the affair with another former HO civil servant, that is an open secret in all the previous departments that AR has worked in. That same civil servant has come out to defend AR in an article published yesterday on the BBC website.

AR is extremely intelligent and obviously very good at her job, but she has still shown extremely poor judgement over the years, as evidenced by the bullying claims against her and the affair rumours. I have a feeling she was never told no in her early life and career, and that made her very entitled.

I assumed KS is desperate to appoint a woman so he can attempt to shut down the boys club stories

he’s going to get stung here - the papers will be holding back the juiciest scandal they can prove until after she’s appointed!!

Both very good points. I think Cat Little would’ve been a safer choice, although she’s now embroiled in the Civil Service Pensions issue and is busy sorting that out.

I’m curious about whether Helen MacNamara - former Cabinet Office DG for Propriety and Ethics and former deputy Cab Sec - was ever in consideration to be Cab Sec. She seems very sound - I think she’d make a very good Cab Sec.

I think it’s an odd decision to want to promote someone about whom there is so much noise. I’ve heard (third hand) that there were several affairs. And obvs the bullying allegations are concerning, even if they date from several years ago. Someone in that position needs to be squeaky clean.

If a CS she had an affair with has come out protecting her then that would be very good to include in an article where the affair is exposed

Joe Public has a lower opinion of the civil service at the moment and the idea that they are shagging each other behind spouses back and then protecting each other in public doesn’t help the view of it!

Ageee with all your points @Johnogroats.

I think KS is keen to appoint her, but hesitating now. I think, in his heart, he wants to appoint her, but his head is saying no - and he’s got to make a decision soon.

He should just forget Cat Little and Antonia Romeo, and appoint James Bowler tbh, even if that means new accusations of running an old boys’ club and people saying he’s not innovative.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn0zjw5pz48o

Sir Matthew Rycroft, who was the UK Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York when Dame Antonia was consul general and Rupert McNeil, the government's then head of human resources have both said in recent days that there was just one complaint.

I thought it was interesting that they said most of the complaints came from young women

I hate it when people do the ‘I know your boss, if you don’t agree I’ll ask them’

Me too.

AR gives me Miranda Priestly vibes,
from The Devil Wears Prada. It’s quite fitting that she’s pictured with Anna Wintour in this article: https://www.msn.com/en-ie/news/uknews/tories-call-for-release-of-report-into-the-lavish-lifestyle-of-dame-tipped-for-cabinet-secretary-job/ar-AA1WmGTy.

Interesting. Although not sure about the criticism of the school fees as that’s standard isn’t it?

Yes, I think so too, but there may be a limit on school fee payments allowances. And the last-minute London flight to attend the BAFTAs doesn’t paint her in a good light.

Yes the BAFTA’s thing I agree. Given the current view of CS they need someone boring but effective!!!

but $40k per child - even if just for a year (not clear) is not unreasonable in NY. And the alternative would be a UK boarding school I guess

To sum up, I think AR is very good at her job but has shown poor judgment in a personal capacity. I agree it’s perhaps because of that personal/professional split. And I think she rationalises her actions through arguing that, ultimately, they’ve helped her progress and because she’s probably quite good at defending them.

She probably also justifies her massive ego and the errors she’s made to satisfy that ego by pointing out her extremely impressive professional and academic achievements (Perm Sec in three departments and Damehood; prior management consultancy experience; first from Oxford and went to Westminster school, which is notoriously academic). She’ll also know how to charm people and how to say the right thing to the right person.

She is a role model of mine for her achievements, but not for her personal behaviour.

I'm a CS. I earn barely above minimum wage. Not sure how they could make it worse.

When the powers that be refer to one complaint, it sounds like there was one formal complaint, but during the investigation witnesses confirmed the problem or raised new issues. It’s a data point as to whether that’s categorized as “just one complaint” or “multiple issues were raised during a formal investigation”. Multiple issues is the problem - it’s very common for a one formal complaint to be the straw that breaks the camels back… the floodgates open. But I have no knowledge of this situation and what I say may not be relevant.

I dont know of AR really so I will reserve judgement on her suitability but a few things strike me:

She was turned down recently for the role so I wonder what makes her suitable now .
BUT..She is currently caretaking as Cab Sec along with two other people ( ridiculous) so its even harder to argue she wouldnt be suitable
Home Office isn’t doing that well at the moment…

I genuinely think KS is like a rabbit in the headlights at the moment and has no faith in his own decisions.

They’ll probably cut our pay and benefits further. Antonia R was once asked about the cost of living crisis and replied that people don’t become civil servants for the money and it’s a huge privilege to be a civil servant: https://www.civilserviceworld.com/professions/article/civil-service-pay-leaders-focused-antonia-romeo-cost-living-crisis.

S’alright to say when you’re very wealthy! She made a lot of money in the private sector before joining the CS, and her husband has a very senior private sector role. I think she may also come from a wealthy family, as she went to a private school and, AFAIK, didn’t go on a scholarship or bursary.

i have a feeling KS will appoint Antonia R as Cab Sec. I also think the newspapers know about AR’s affairs and they’re just waiting for the right moment in which to expose all of that to inflict maximum damage on KS. I really hope this doesn’t happen though.

I like KS and think he is, ultimately, a good guy. However, he’s also got a bit of an ego which he’s finding hard to handle now he’s PM and, to satisfy the ego, he just keeps surrounding himself with dodgy people who have a lot of money and power.

She’s clearly had a privileged upbringing given the schools she went to but her comments on CoL are really out of touch!!

I remember a French colleague of mine saying in France the politicians are punished for money scandals and here it is for sex scandals. That fell out of favour for a while (Boris anyone?) but I suspect a senior woman having had multiple affairs - particularly if with her seniors - will have the papers salivating. And sadly we will hear all the negative stereotypes about women in the workplace

Totally agree!

www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c3rz8z33rqxo

Well I hope it all works out. We need a period of calm and boringness and we need CS who the politicians (particularly the chancellor!) will listen to. It doesn’t feel like they do any analysis of the potential impacts of their policies at the moment and only see the lightbulb after they’ve announced and then they have to u turn

I can’t see how a “big personality” is going to help KS. His thinking seems so muddled on this.

I agree. I wonder if he appointed her because of her focus on innovation? The CS badly needs innovation and that focus is not what you’d expect from a Cab Sec. I also think she’s very competent, which no doubt made her a good candidate for the role. However… she has a lot of skeletons in her closet, which may be a problem.