Starmer appoints Romeo as head of UK civil service

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has appointed Dame Antonia Romeo as cabinet secretary, the UK's top civil servant.

Dame Antonia will be the first woman to hold the post in the role's 110-year history.

She faced multiple bullying complaints earlier in her career but government sources have told the BBC that Sir Keir was impressed by her ability to "get things done".

The government has previously said three allegations relating to Dame Antonia's use of expenses and bullying of staff when she was the UK's consul general in New York were investigated and there was "no case to answer".

The cabinet secretary is the prime minister's most senior policy adviser and sits next to them during cabinet minister meetings, which usually take place weekly in Downing Street when Parliament is sitting.

They are responsible for ensuring policy decisions are put into action and is ultimately responsible for all civil servants in Great Britain.

Dame Antonia has a long track record of leading government departments including spells as permanent secretary at the Home Office, International Trade and the Ministry of Justice.

Her appointment was made following a due diligence process overseen by crossbench peer Baroness Gisela Stuart, the First Civil Service Commissioner.

Sir Keir said Dame Antonia is an "outstanding public servant, with a 25‑year record of delivering for the British people".

He said: "Since becoming prime minister, I've been impressed by her professionalism and determination to get things done."

Dame Antonia said it was a "huge privilege" to be appointed, adding: "The Civil Service is a great and remarkable institution, which I love.

"We should be known for delivery, efficiency and innovation, working to implement the government's agenda and meet the challenges the country faces."

Dame Antonia, a University of Oxford graduate, joined the Civil Service in 2000 as an economist after previously working for a consultancy firm in the private sector.

Her high-ranking jobs included serving as the UK's consul general in New York between 2016 and 2017.

Dame Antonia's job involved promoting UK trade and business in New York, which saw her pictured with celebrities, shortly after the referendum to take Britain out of the EU.

Concerns were raised about Dame Antonia's use of social media, with one former colleague claiming in an email that she seemed to be "focusing an undue amount on building her personal Twitter brand".

Dame Antonia replaces Sir Chris Wormald, who was forced out as cabinet secretary last week after serving in the job for just 14 months.

Sir Chris is the shortest serving cabinet secretary in history.

His departure came after months of negative media reports suggesting Downing Street was unhappy with his performance.

At the time of his appointment, the prime minister said Sir Chris would be tasked with "the complete re-wiring of the British state to deliver bold and ambitious long-term reform".

As a career civil servant, some questioned whether he was the best person to reform the Civil Service.

Sir Chris also had ultimate responsibility for the due diligence checks carried out before Lord Mandelson's appointment as US ambassador, although he took up the role only a few days before the appointment was formally announced.

Lord Mandelson was sacked from the role last September after Downing Street said new information about the depth of his relationship with paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein had emerged.

The FDA union for senior civil servants criticised the anonymous briefings against Sir Chris.

Liberal Democrat Cabinet Office spokesperson Lisa Smart, responding to Dame Antonia's appointment, said the public are "tired of the endless sniping and the revolving door of officials".

She said: "It's time to stop the Downing Street drama and start delivering for the country."

Reform UK said it would break the role into three if it entered government.

They have proposed: a cabinet secretary responsible for the process of cabinet and cabinet committee meetings; a Civil Service leader; and a chief adviser to the prime minister, who would be a political appointee.

Reform UK MP Danny Kruger said the current combined role "is far too much executive responsibility for a single civil servant, and helps explain the chronic bureaucracy and misgovernment of Britain".

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