Keir Starmer has today resolved one of his longstanding headaches: who to appoint to lead the civil service. The man chosen to replace Simon Case as cabinet secretary is Sir Chris Wormald. The 56-year-old has served as permanent secretary of the Department of Health since 2016, leading colleagues throughout the ups and downs of the pandemic. Prior to that, he was permanent secretary at the Department of Education (DfE) from 2012 to 2016. Government is very much in Wormald’s blood: his father Peter served as under secretary in the DHSS from 1978 to 1981.
The task that faces the new cabinet secretary is considerable
With 33 years of continuous service in Whitehall, it is clear that the Prime Minister is opting for a ‘greybeard’ over a wildcard. High-profile names floated for the post of cabinet secretary included Antonia Romeo and Olly Robbins but Sir Chris is an appointment in line with the traditional ‘Sir Humphrey’ mould.
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