As Starmer re-re-boots his Downing Street operation, one of the most significant transfers of power is set to take place. One that for better or worse, will be a factor in the success of Starmer’s premiership to a degree that is difficult to understate.
On a drizzly Monday morning last month, Simon Case, the Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Home Civil Service, announced his resignation as Cabinet Secretary after four years in the job. Case’s tenure oversaw unprecedented turmoil in British politics, serving four Prime Ministers and dealing with all issues ranging from COVID lockdowns to the death of a monarch.
The role of the Cabinet Secretary as the head of the Civil Service is undoubtedly one of the most important in British politics. Whilst now overshadowed by the role of Chief of Staff, the Cabinet Secretary remains a hugely significant influence for the Prime Minister, providing impartial policy advice, advice on policy implementation and oversight of government delivery. They are the only non-ministerial figure to participate at Cabinet meetings– directly to the left of the Prime Minister, a testament to the importance of the office. The Chief of Staff comparatively, cannot participate.
The role is also uniquely private. Whilst many found outrage at the fact that Sue Gray as Chief of Staff earned £3000 more annually than Starmer, few in the media acknowledged that the Cabinet Secretary overshadowed them both by well over five figures on a £200,000 a year salary. A lack of such coverage is a further testament to the role’s privacy.
Good relations between the Cabinet Secretary and the Prime Minister (and his staff) are key. Case’s predecessor Sir Mark Sedwill reportedly had frosty relations with the Government’s “Chief Advisor” Dominic Cummings, leading to his departure just two years into the role. Gordon Brown had such a good relationship with future Cabinet Secretary Jeremy Heywood that reportedly with Heywood having left for the private sector, one of Brown’s first aims as Prime Minister was to “get Jeremy back from the City” according to a Labour aide.
Whilst Case has immeasurably contributed to British political life, his tenure has been unusually tempestuous at the helm of the Civil Service.
Appointed by Johnson, Case’s relative youth and inexperience was seen as a move by the Cummings-led Number Ten operation to weaken the Civil Service’s power. Whilst shadowing Sir Mark Sedwill during COVID, Case had first-hand insight into the toxic and vaccous Johnson-led Number Ten. COVID WhatsApps quote him remarking to Sedwill that “at this rate, I will struggle to last six months”, and that he had “never seen a bunch of people less well–equipped to run a country”.
Case too was present throughout the fall of Cummings, and later of Johnson himself. As an impartial Civil Servant he found himself clapping the freshly-minted Prime Minister Liz Truss into Number Ten, and just as enthusiastically greeting her political rival Rishi Sunak six weeks later. And eighteen months later, as Keir Starmer walked through the door, he found himself doing the same yet again.
Case’s tenure is not without controversy however. The COVID WhatsApps caused a stir when it was revealed he had commented that he found it “hilarious” to "see some of the faces of people coming out of first class and into a Premier Inn shoe box" during the COVID quarantine era.
However, his most infamous controversy involves Partygate. Having initially been tasked with investigating reports of Downing Street parties, Case was forced to recuse himself after it was revealed that he had held a gathering in his own office. Furthermore, his deputy Helen MacNamara was named as having brought a karaoke machine to one of the Downing Street parties. He was the highest ranking official to be complicit in the scandal.
It is for this very reason that the role of investigating Partygate fell to Sue Gray– a job she reportedly did not enjoy. She and Case were apparently not on good terms, and she believed that he blocked her move to becoming a departmental Permanent Secretary. Even on returning to government, Case’s poor relationship with Gray led to accusations by Cabinet members that he was responsible for leaks against her.
With Case standing down due to medical issues, the door is open for prospective applicants, and Starmer is currently considering a shortlist of candidates.
Sir Oliver Robbins is one of the favourites for the top job. A close ally of former Starmer aide Sue Gray, Robbins was a core part of Theresa May’s network in negotiating Brexit as her Europe Advisor, and left the Civil Service shortly after she left Downing Street. Robbins notably came under fire for accusations by the Tory right of being an orthodox Europhile– him and his future SW1 colleagues from Oxford’s Hereford College were famously dismissed by Boris Johnson as a bunch of “commie geographers”. Robbins has apparently commented that he wants the job, having long been touted as a potential Cabinet Secretary.
Also in the running is Antonia Romeo, Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Justice, and former Permanent Secretary for the now-defunct Department for International Trade. A higher-profile-than-usual Civil Servant, she was allegedly instrumental in speaking up for junior colleagues amidst the bullying scandal involving Dominic Raab at the Ministry of Justice. Her appointment would also make her the first female officeholder of the top job in the Civil Service’s 170 year history, something that Starmer is reportedly keen to see happen.
Tamara Finkelstein is another contender for the role. Currently Permanent Secretary to the Department for Food, Environment and Rural Affairs, she has served in the role under every Prime Minister since Theresa May. Her 30-year long career in the Civil Service has meant that her level of experience has led to her being touted as a potential successor to Case.
Case himself intends to stand down by the end of the year, by which point Starmer will be able to complete the last piece of his puzzle in resetting his Number Ten operation. He has also long commented on his intention for “mission-driven government” and on emphasising policy delivery in time for an assumed 2029 election. The vacancy of Cabinet Secretary grants Starmer a significant opportunity to influence the cohesion of the government machine with the rest of his political project. He would be wise to choose the officeholder carefully.
Picture: Andrew Parsons / Flickr
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