Chris Wormald quits: Cabinet secretary steps down as Starmer loses one other member of No 10 group | EUROtoday

Sir Chris Wormald has stood down because the UK’s high civil servant and head of the civil service after simply 14 months within the function, the federal government has introduced, because the prime minister seeks to conduct a reset of his ailing Downing Street operation.

Sir Chris’s departure – which the Cabinet Office mentioned was by “mutual agreement” – comes simply days after the resignations of Sir Keir’s chief of workers Morgan McSweeney and communications chief Tim Allan.

The shake up of Sir Keir’s high group is a part of an try to attract a line underneath controversies surrounding the appointments of Lord Peter Mandelson and Lord Matthew Doyle regardless of their affiliation with intercourse offenders.

But Tory chief Kemi Badenoch mentioned the transfer has been performed to “save his own skin”, accusing the PM of getting thrown the outgoing Cabinet secretary “under the bus” after he survived the hardest day of his premiership thus far this week, with figures throughout the political spectrum questioning his judgement.

The prime minister mentioned he was “grateful” for Sir Chris’s “long and distinguished career of public service” and his “support” as Cabinet secretary.

Commenting on his departure – which got here after days of hypothesis over his future – Sir Keir added: “I have agreed with him that he will step down as Cabinet secretary today. I wish him the very best for the future.”

Meanwhile, Sir Chris mentioned it had 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”, he mentioned.

The high civil servant had been because of lead the probe led into Lord Peter Mandelson’s contact with paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein whereas he was a authorities minister.

The prime minister will appoint a brand new Cabinet secretary “shortly”, the Cabinet Office mentioned on Thursday.

Home Office everlasting secretary Dame Antonia Romeo, who’s extensively tipped to be in line for Sir Chris’s former job, Catherine Little and James Bowler will share the obligations of Cabinet secretary for an interim interval.

Dame Antonia was reportedly investigated when she was Britain’s consul basic in New York in 2017 over her bills and claims of bullying, however was later cleared by the Cabinet Office.

Rumours that the Labour chief intends to interchange Sir Chris with Dame Antonia earlier this week triggered a extremely uncommon warning by a former high mandarin towards “doing the due diligence too late”.

Dame Antonia’s former boss Lord Simon McDonald, ex-permanent secretary on the Foreign Office, mentioned there ought to be a “full process” to nominate a brand new Cabinet secretary and that “needs to start from scratch”.

Lord McDonald instructed Channel 4 News on Wednesday night: “This is the most important job in the civil service. It can’t be chosen on the fly.”

He added: “If the prime minister wants a new Cabinet secretary, he needs to start from scratch.

“Due diligence is vitally important. The prime minister has recent bitter experience of doing the due diligence too late.

“It would be an unnecessary tragedy to repeat that mistake.”

Ahead of Sir Chris’s resignation, Mrs Badenoch additionally mentioned Sir Keir ought to delay the change in management on the Cabinet Office till the disclosure of the Mandelson recordsdata is full.

“It is hard to escape the conclusion that the Cabinet secretary is simply the latest person to be thrown under a bus by this prime minister.

“It is all the more concerning to be changing Cabinet secretary in the midst of the ongoing scandal over the appointment of Lord Mandelson and his conduct in office”, the Tory chief mentioned in a letter to the Civil Service Commission.

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