As Antonia Romeo steps into the cabinet secretary role, becoming the first woman ever to be appointed as the country’s most senior civil servant, CSW has trawled the archives to give you some of her finest commentary.
On leadership
“At its heart, leadership is about people and creating the conditions for them to thrive” – CSW Leadership Lecture, 2022
“I’ve always thought leadership is a team sport, but certainly the challenges in the justice system of recent years have shown me that having a collaborative and resilient top team is essential to navigate through the most difficult crises.” – CSW feature, April 2025
On opportunities for women
“It shouldn’t be a choice between having to do the slightly dud jobs, and spending a lot of time looking after your children, or doing the high flying jobs but then never seeing your family. That’s not a choice that, in this day and age, I think we can put up with. We’ve got to allow both.” – CSW interview, 2015
On diversity and inclusion
“If we really want to draw on the talents of the widest possible range of people, we’ve got to be a model for social mobility and a workplace where merit matters above all else.” – CSW Leadership Lecture, 2022
“And to be completely clear, diversity and inclusion is not a ‘nice to have’ for the civil service, it is absolutely crucial. Because if you work for the government, you work for the people, and we’ve got to be more representative of the people that we serve.” – CSW Leadership Lecture, 2022
On flexible working
“I worked loads of different working patterns, especially when I had very young children. I spent a very short period working three days a week, which was for me completely hopeless. I think job shares are essential, because if you’re in a job share you can do three days a week and you can feel like you’re doing a really effective job leading the team. I think leadership on three days a week is difficult if you don’t have somebody else with you sharing the rest of the burden.” – CSW interview, 2015
On work-life balance
“I’m not one of those people who is constantly working. I’m not at sports day on my Blackberry. If I’m at sports day, I’m at sports day. Obviously, it depends what happens – if I have to take a call, I will take a call. But I have lots of priorities in my life. Work’s important. But home and family are incredibly important. And you just have to sort of be ruthless about it.” – CSW interview, 2015
On pay
“It’s a massive privilege to do what we do, it’s a privilege to serve the country, serve the government. No-one joins the public sector for the pay, really – few people would. It’s for the purpose and the mission. But alongside that we’ve got to create the right working conditions and give people the opportunity to develop their careers and to have their talents recognised.” – CSW write-up of an IfG event, 2023
On board games
For you, no Christmas holiday is complete without...
“Christmas Eve Midnight Mass, opening the Quality Streets before lunch, a super-competitive games tournament all afternoon (this year: Codenames), and a giant Lego kit to be finished.” – Perm secs roundup, December 2017
Tell us a favourite festive memory from your youth...
“Fiercely competitive board games all afternoon, only broken by the Queen’s speech on television. In 1988 I was Monopoly, Cluedo, Boggle and Trivial Pursuit champion. That was a great year.” – Perm secs roundup, 2019
On Christmas lights
Which celebrity or historical figure would you choose to turn on the Christmas lights in your town, and why?
“Abraham Lincoln, for his radical vision and transformative drive. And Dorothy Parker, for her wit.” –Perm secs roundup, December 2018
On aspirational New Year’s Eve party guests
Which historical, mythical, or contemporary figure would you most like to join you for a New Year’s Eve celebration?
“Thomas Cromwell, Henry VIII’s chief minister, would be interesting. Although he doesn’t appear that fun. Perhaps Arsenal legend Ian Wright is a better bet – we could discuss the Twinning Project in which he’s involved: a brilliant initiative to pair prisons and football clubs to support prisoners to gain new skills and employment on release.” – Perm secs roundup, December 2021
On Christmas presents
What was the best Christmas present you’ve ever given or received? And the worst?
“Two of my three kids are at university now – so all three being at home for Christmas is rather cheesily the best present I could ask for. And I have got my executive committee cracking presents this year – this top team has done genuinely hard things together in 2024 so it’s well deserved.” – Perm secs roundup, 2024
On her own future
“One of my many faults is that I don’t career-plan. You never know what opportunities are going to come up. I came back to work in 2006, working three days a week. And I was doing that for two months after the birth of my second child. Then the PPS job came up and I thought, ‘I can’t resist this opportunity’. And I never would have predicted that I would have done that, but I’ve ended up doing interesting jobs by just spotting things that happen.” – CSW interview, 2015
“The job I’ve got here is fantastic. But I think there’s a lot of road ahead. And I think there are a lot of really great jobs on that road. I’m just hopeful at some point to luck out and get one.” – CSW interview, 2015