New top civil service boss named to replace Simon Case

Sir Chris Wormald, a former health department boss, has been named as the new head of the UK’s civil service and cabinet secretary.

Downing Street confirmed the appointment of Sir Chris, who will replace Simon Case in the head of the civil service role, advertised with a £200,000 salary, this afternoon.

Wormald has led the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) since 2016, including through the Covid-19 pandemic and development of the vaccine.

Prior to that he served as permanent secretary of the Department for Education (DfE) from 2012 to 2016.

He will take up the job on 16 December and be in charge of delivering the government’s agenda, and managing the permanent secretaries who lead departments.

Sir Keir Starmer welcomed him to the role, which will also see him be the most senior official advisor to the Prime Minister.

He said he was “delighted” by the appointment and added: “Sir Chris brings a wealth of experience to this role at a critical moment in the work of change this new government has begun.

‘Ambitious agenda’

“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.”

Case, who was appointed cabinet secretary in September 2020, announced he was standing down due to health grounds in September.

Sir Chris said: “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.

“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.”

The UK’s chief medical advisor, Professor Sir Chris Whitty, will oversee the running of the DHSC ahead of the appointment of a new permanent secretary, No10 confirmed.

Sir Chris beat other top civil servants to the role, including former Brexit negotiator Sir Olly Robbins, Ministry of Justice permanent secretary Dame Antonia Romeo and Tamara Finkelstein, permanent secretary at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.