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A group of former top civil servants has urged Sir Keir Starmer to undertake a full process to appoint the next Cabinet secretary, after the Prime Minister ousted Sir Chris Wormald on Thursday, just 14 months after appointing him.
Starmer has faced criticism for his dealings with the head of the civil service, with some officials saying that frequent briefings about Wormald’s performance have weakened the role.
Several former mandarins told the FT that instead of a quick appointment of Antonia Romo, the permanent secretary of the Home Office, there should be a full process before Starmer selects Wormald’s successor.
Lord Richard Wilson, who was Cabinet Secretary between 1998 and 2002, said, “His successor must be selected with due process and due diligence.”
Wilson said that the first Civil Service Commissioner, Baroness Gisela Stuart, who oversees appointments, should be “brought in and asked to take charge of this and be given whatever time it takes to get it right”.
He added: “Recent events suggest that prices may remain high as a result of cutbacks.”
The possibility of Wormald’s departure was being speculated for several days and it was finally announced on Thursday. The Cabinet Office said he had stepped down with immediate effect “by mutual agreement” with Starmer.
“The Prime Minister will soon appoint a new Cabinet Secretary. The appointment process will first be agreed upon by the Civil Service Commissioner,” the Cabinet Office said.
The prime minister has been hit by a series of resignations from his core team in the past week, following the scandal over Starmer’s decision to appoint Lord Peter Mandelson as Britain’s ambassador to the US despite knowledge of his relationship with notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Government figures have variously criticized Wormald’s record on policy delivery and government modernisation, as well as his role in overseeing Mandelson’s scrutiny of his role as ambassador.
Wormald, now the shortest-serving cabinet secretary in the history of the job, was appointed in early December 2024, just weeks before Starmer announced Mandelson as ambassador.
Other officials disputed the Cabinet Secretary’s criticism, arguing that he had been unfairly targeted by vicious political briefings.
Wormald’s responsibilities will be shared by three permanent secretaries of state for the “interim period”: Catherine Little from the Cabinet Office, Romeo from the Home Office and James Bowler from the Treasury.
Romo is the top pick to replace Wormald, as he was one of the runners-up in the initial competition in which he was appointed.
However, the briefing has raised concerns among senior ex-staff, including a former cabinet secretary, about the prospects of his appointment without a full process or new due diligence.
The process to replace Wormald is still under debate, according to people familiar with the matter. Starmer has a high level of discretion in making his selection but must seek approval from Stuart.
The Civil Service Commission was contacted for comment.
Stuart is facing calls to slow down the process and ensure the government does not face a third scandal over the scrutiny of a major appointment.
As well as the uproar over Mandelson’s appointment, Starmer was criticized for granting peerage to his former colleague, Lord Matthew Doyle, despite Doyle campaigning for a councilor accused of possessing indecent images of children.
A former permanent secretary said Stuart “needs to take a clear approach”, warning: “Otherwise the whole senior public appointments process risks becoming even more discredited.”
Another ex-Permanent Secretary said that if Starmer failed to conduct the entire process, “he would create problems for himself and seriously weaken the successful candidate”.
The comments echo concerns expressed on Wednesday by Lord Simon Macdonald, the former permanent secretary of the Foreign Office, that a failure to conduct due diligence would be an “unnecessary tragedy”.
McDonald told Channel 4 that if Romo was appointed, it would show “there is still some way to go for due diligence”. A Whitehall official dismissed her comments as “a desperate attempt by a senior male official whose time has passed”.
Some Labor officials believe Starmer is making the wrong decision this week. One said he hoped Downing Street would take the opportunity to “take a breath and reflect”.
A senior Labor MP said there was “real concern” about Wormald’s ouster. “Whatever people in the job may think of him, the Prime Minister appointed him and I don’t think he understands the impact on morale of firing him.”
However, a third former permanent secretary said that if the Prime Minister wanted change it was inevitable that Wormald would have to go because “you can’t do a job if your minister doesn’t trust you”.
A fourth ex-permanent secretary said it was “nonsense” to demand a full process for appointing the next Cabinet secretary, accusing former colleagues of trying to stop Romo.
He said, “She was deemed appointable 14 months ago and would have had to undergo extensive scrutiny to be appointed Permanent Secretary to the Home Office – it is entirely reasonable for the Prime Minister to say that no further process is required.”
