Sir Keir Starmer has appointed a candidate described as a “safe pair of hands” to run the civil service as he prepares to reset his government this week following a turbulent first five months in power.
The prime minister has chosen Sir Chris Wormald, the current permanent secretary to the Department of Health, to be his cabinet secretary, Britain’s most senior civil service position.
It comes as the PM prepares to give a major speech on Thursday in which he will launch a “plan for change”. Sir Keir is hoping to get his beleaguered administration back on course after a series of missteps and miscommunications have left him facing a barrage of criticism.
Sir Chris was the fourth favourite on a shortlist of four to get the job as Britain’s top mandarin, having been passed over for the role by Boris Johnson in 2020. He has been described as a safe pair of hands, a steady-as-you-go candidate, and “the consummate Sir Humphrey”.
While the prime minister has said he wants to bring change and rewire the government, it has been noted that his choice to run the Whitehall machine is the least radical of the candidates, with Sir Chris pipping more dynamic characters like Olly Robbins and Antonia Romeo at the post.
The appointment comes just two weeks before the departure of Simon Case, who is stepping down due to ill health.
In a troubled first five months, Sir Keir has also been forced to jettison his first choice of chief of staff, Sue Gray, who lost a power struggle with her replacement Morgan McSweeney.
At the end of last week, he also lost his first cabinet minister, when Louise Haigh was forced to resign as transport secretary over a historical fraud conviction. Sir Keir completed a reshuffle on Monday after promoting Heidi Alexander to replace Ms Haigh on Friday.
Ahead of his speech on Thursday, the government has also released a trickle of announcements on a new defence industrial strategy, ministerial appointments, and foreign policy.
The reset is also aimed at offsetting a series of questions over economic policy – with a junior minister unable even to confirm that economic growth was the top mission of the government – and anger over Rachel Reeves’s Budget, particularly with regard to national insurance rises and changes to inheritance tax, a policy move that has dragged in the farming community.
Ministers including Sir Keir have also been beset by criticism over their acceptance of gifts, including designer glasses and clothes.
As part of the PM’s new agenda, Sir Chris will be tasked with pushing through an overhaul of Whitehall in an effort to focus the government machine on delivering Labour’s priorities – which include boosting the economy, cutting NHS waiting times, public safety, energy security and social mobility.
Announcing the appointment, Sir Keir thanked Mr Case for his service and said he was “delighted” that Sir Chris had accepted the post.
“He brings a wealth of experience to this role at a critical moment in the work of change this new government has begun,” Sir Keir added.
Ahead of his relaunch, which comes after months of Labour declining in the polls, the prime minister said: “To change this country, we must change the way government serves this country … From breaking down silos across government to harnessing the incredible potential of technology and innovation, it will require nothing less than the complete rewiring of the British state to deliver bold and ambitious long-term reform.
“Delivering this scale of change will require exceptional civil service leadership. There could be no one better placed to drive forward our plan for change than Chris.”
Sir Chris was made the Department of Health’s top civil servant in May 2016. He has previously held a series of top Whitehall posts, including as the Department for Education’s permanent secretary, director general of the Deputy Prime Minister’s Office, and head of the Economic and Domestic Secretariat at the Cabinet Office.
Sir Chris said: “I am delighted that the prime minister has appointed me to the privileged role of leading our talented civil service, as we rise to the challenge of delivering the government’s focused agenda to deliver its plan for change.
“The government has set a clear mandate – an ambitious agenda with working people at its heart. That will require each and every one of us to embrace the change agenda in how the British state operates.
“So I look forward to working with leaders across government, to ensure that the civil service has the skills they need to deliver across the breadth of the country.”
Sir Chris made headlines last year when the Covid inquiry was shown evidence that he was part of a group of powerful officials who, in mid-March 2020, discussed the coronavirus as though it were comparable to chickenpox.
The new cabinet secretary, in a conversation with one of his predecessors, Mark Sedwill, said “Yes, exactly” when it was suggested to him that “Like chickenpox, we want people to get it and develop herd immunity before the next wave.”