Whitehall battle over Starmer’s ‘plan’ to sack Cabinet Secretary and set up Antonia Romeo in prime job – with ex-mandarin publicly warning over vetting

A Whitehall war has broken out over Keir Starmer‘s apparent plan to sack the Cabinet Secretary and install Antonia Romeo in the top job. 

Former top diplomat Lord McDonald of Salford has taken the highly unusual step of publicly warning No10 against the move.

He said it was ‘extraordinary’ the PM was thinking of replacing Chris Wormald in the key role just 14 months after appointing him.

The peer insisted Dame Antonia must not be parachuted into the post without a fresh vetting process, given she was investigated for bullying when she was HM Consul General in New York a decade ago. A probe found no wrongdoing.

Kemi Badenoch has written to the Civil Service Commission today demanding full scrutiny of any application process. 

But Government sources delivered a stinging rebuke, accusing Lord McDonald of a ‘desperate’ attempt to block change after spending his career getting Britain into a ‘mess’. 

Bizarrely, Downing Street refused to say this morning who the Cabinet Secretary is, although the PM’s spokesman insisted there is one. 

Lord McDonald, who was permanent secretary at the Foreign Office for five years until 2020, told Channel 4 News: ‘This is the most important job in the civil service. It can’t be chosen on the fly.’

In a reference to Lord Mandelson being appointed US Ambassador in spite of his links to Jeffrey Epstein, the crossbench peer said: ‘The Prime Minister has recent bitter experience of doing the due diligence too late. It would be an unnecessary tragedy to repeat that mistake.’

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.’

Another Government source told the Times: ‘This is a desperate attempt from a senior male official whose time has passed but spent their career getting Britain into the mess it finds itself in today. 

‘A computer says no culture, that cannot challenge the status quo. 

‘Antonia is a disrupter. She isn’t settled with the status quo. She is one of the few senior officials that has always fought against the computer says no culture embedded in the British state. 

‘In light of the crisis we face as a country, Antonia is exactly the leadership the civil service need to embrace systemic reform to rewire the state, take on vested interest and deliver for the British people.’ 

Appointing Sir Chris to the £220,000-a-year job in December 2024, Sir Keir lavished praise on him as ‘exceptional’ the right option to ‘drive’ change.

‘There could be no-one better placed to drive forward our Plan For Change than Chris, and I look forward to working with him as we fulfil the mandate of this new government, improving the lives of working people and strengthening our country with a decade of national renewal,’ the premier said.

Sir Chris was drafted in to replace Simon Case – now Lord Case – who received a £200,000 severance deal.

However, there have been persistent rumours of tensions, with briefings apparently from No10 suggesting the top mandarin has been holding up reforms.

Sir Chris has also been accused by Gordon Brown of failing to run an adequate probe into the New Labour architect’s correspondence with Jeffrey Epstein.

If he goes, Sir Chris could be in line for a £250,000 payoff and become one of the shortest serving Cabinet Secretaries in history. 

Home Office permanent secretary Antonia Romeo saw her application snubbed by Sir Keir in 2024.

The the PM is said to have been impressed by Dame Antonia’s handling of the small boats crisis at the Home Office.

Westminster insiders have suggested Dame Antonia will not apply for the job again, but would only accept if she is handed the role without another process. 

The Civil Service Commission would decide on whether one is necessary, leaving Sir Keir’s decision on a knife edge.

In a letter to First Commissioner Baroness Stuart of Edgbaston – a former Labour MP – she said: ‘The Prime Minister, as the Minister for the Civil Service, ultimately must have powers to appoint senior officials as he sees fit, in line with the merit principle, and where necessary to remove them. But 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.’

She added: ‘Changing the Cabinet Secretary in the middle of this scandal – or more precisely forcing out the incumbent without any clear process – would be an extraordinary thing to do. Any individual appointed in the circumstances, without a full process to point to and in midst of managing a scandal, could find it difficult to demonstrate impartiality. The Civil Service Commission has a particular obligation to uphold the merit principle for the Civil Service and to help safeguard an impartial Civil Service.’

Mrs Badenoch said she believed the commission should ‘formally advise the Prime Minister to conduct a full new process for this appointment, given the circumstances around the likely departure of Sir Chris and given the concerns raised by the former Foreign Office mandarin, Lord McDonald’.

It should also ‘advise the Prime Minister to delay any decision to dismiss Sir Chris until both the disclosure of documents under the Humble Address, and the Cabinet Secretary led review into Lord Mandelson, are complete’ and ‘conduct a review under its statutory powers if the Prime Minister nonetheless proceeds with forcing out Sir Chris and appointing a successor’, she said.

Downing Street has refused to comment on whether Sir Chris is being replaced by Dame Antonia.

Tory former Cabinet minister Lord Gove said: The treatment of Chris Wormald is a disgrace.’

He said he worked with Sir Chris at the Department for Education, and he was ‘a dedicated public servant who diligently executed a coherent reform programme’.

‘The PM chose Chris from a strong field and now this – it’s many things but it’s not leadership,’ he added.

The chaotic wrangling raises fresh doubts about Sir Keir’s judgment, as he struggles to cling on in power.

The premier’s chief of staff Morgan McSweeney and communications director Tim Allan have already resigned in the past few days.

There are also continuing questions about national security chief Jonathan Powell, who is said to have encouraged Sir Keir to appoint Lord Mandelson as US ambassador.