Six former cabinet secretaries given their backing to the appointment of Dame Antonia Romeo last week as the civil service's top official.
Robin Butler, Richard Wilson, Andrew Turnbull, Gus O’Donnell, Mark Sedwill and Simon Case, all now peers in the House of Lords, said in a letter to The Times published on Saturday: “We believe that Dame Antonia Romeo is an excellent choice as cabinet secretary.
“She has broad experience of policy and delivery having led the Home Office, the Ministry of Justice and the Department for International Trade.”
They added: “The country needs a strong civil service working with the elected government to deliver for all the people. This means further reform of the civil service as well as strong relationships built on respect between ministers and their top civil servants. Dame Antonia’s track record shows she is very well placed to deliver the necessary changes.”
Lord Sedwill and Lord O’Donnell gave their public backing to the Romeo pick on Thursday, when Keir Starmer announced she would be the next cab sec, replacing the departed Sir Chris Wormald, who left just a week earlier. Romeo took on the role on Thursday with immediate effect.
Sedwill, who was cabinet secretary from 2018 to 2020, said on X on Thursday that Romeo would “bring dynamism, confidence and a reform agenda to the public service”.
O’Donnell, who was cab sec from 2005 to 2011, said in an interview on BBC World at One that Romeo is “a very experienced perm sec”, having managed “two really tough departments” in the Home Office and MoJ.
O'Donnell also said he was "delighted" that Romeo is the first female cab sec "but that’s not why she’s got the job".
"She’s got the job because I think she’s the best candidate for it," he said. "When I was cabinet secretary, we got to the stage where there were more female perm secs than male perm secs and you would think in that there should be coming through someone who gets to the top and I’m delighted that’s happened now."