Sir Chris held the publish for simply 14 months-the shortest tenure in fashionable history-having been appointed by Sir Keir in December 2024.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer (Picture: PA)
Sir Keir Starmer has been accused of “scapegoating” cupboard secretary Sir Chris Wormald by a union boss who branded the saga a “new low” for the Labour Authorities. The veteran official’s compelled departure on Thursday is broadly seen as an try and defend the Prime Minister from the escalating Peter Mandelson scandal.
The exit, introduced as a “mutual determination,” follows months of nameless Whitehall briefings accusing the mandarin of underperformance. He held the publish for simply 14 months—the shortest tenure in fashionable historical past—having been appointed by Sir Keir in December 2024.
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FDA basic secretary Dave Penman, whose union represents senior civil servants, stated: “Days of open hypothesis adopted by an inevitable departure. What message does this ship to the remainder of the civil service on how they are often anticipated to be handled?”
He argued the episode despatched a chilling message throughout Whitehall, including: “A authorities that solely final month stated it desires civil servants to take dangers and that ministers may have their again has simply undermined that message in spectacular trend.”
Mr Penman accused Downing Road of deploying “imprecise and unsubstantiated” briefings “straight out of Dominic Cummings’ playbook” to “scapegoat” Sir Chris and defend the Prime Minister. The assaults started final July, solely seven months after his appointment, with leaks suggesting Sir Keir had “purchaser’s regret.”
Sir Chris’s exit is the third senior departure in every week, following chief of workers Morgan McSweeney and communications director Tim Allan. It comes amid intense scrutiny of Sir Keir’s determination to nominate Lord Mandelson as US Ambassador, a task the peer was sacked from following revelations about his ties to Jeffrey Epstein. As cupboard secretary, Sir Chris was overseeing the disclosure of recordsdata regarding the vetting course of for that appointment.
Cupboard Secretary Sir Chris Wormald and Sir Keir Starmer pictured in Quantity 10 final month (Picture: PA)
Talking within the Commons final week, Conservative chief Kemi Badenoch stated: “Sir Chris has been thrown underneath the bus with the intention to save the Prime Minister’s personal pores and skin.” She added: “If one other nation was paying off a senior official in the midst of a scandal involving the Prime Minister, Keir Starmer could be calling it corruption.”
Sir Chris reportedly obtained a £260,000 payoff, which required Sir Keir’s private approval through a ministerial path because it breached customary value-for-money guidelines.
Former cupboard secretary Lord Gus O’Donnell described the sample of nameless briefings as “one in every of this Authorities’s greatest failings” and urged Sir Keir to “get a grip” on his particular advisers.
He instructed BBC Radio 4’s Right this moment programme: “The place it’s shabby is the truth that they’ve been briefing anonymously towards the cupboard secretary saying it’s not working.”
Three everlasting secretaries—Dame Antonia Romeo, Cat Little, and James Bowler—will share the position quickly. Dame Antonia is the frontrunner for the everlasting job regardless of previous controversy.
Former International Workplace everlasting secretary Lord Simon McDonald has warned towards dashing her appointment.
A authorities supply dismissed the criticism, calling Romeo “a disrupter” and Lord McDonald “a senior male official whose time has handed.”
Sir Keir thanked Sir Chris for “his lengthy and distinguished profession” however gave no rationalization for the abrupt exit.
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