Sir Keir Starmer this month triggered formal access talks with the civil service, prompting debate across Whitehall about who the Labour leader might pick as his top mandarin if his party wins the general election.
Cabinet secretary Simon Case, who is back in the office as part of a “phased return” to work after medical leave, has told colleagues he hopes to carry on his job until 2025, when he would have served five years in the post.
“It wouldn’t look right to change cabinet secretary immediately if there was a change of government,” said one Whitehall official. “Simon always said he would go in 2023 or 2025, but not immediately after a 2024 election.”
If the Conservatives under Rishi Sunak lose the election, Case’s successor would be chosen by Starmer, who in turn would be advised by his chief of staff, Sue Gray, a former veteran civil servant and Whitehall ethics enforcer.
The Labour leader, who previously headed the Crown Prosecution Service, has a keen interest in how organisations are run, according to colleagues. “For Keir it’s not just about what, but how?” said one.
For that reason the appointment of cabinet secretary, a critical decision for any prime minister, is seen by Starmer as particularly important in a potential new Labour administration, they added.
British prime ministers can unilaterally select their cabinet secretary — the senior mandarin in charge of driving the civil service machine — though some choose to carry out a formal process involving interviews.
Labour is days from beginning Whitehall access talks, the usual pre-election process through which the main UK opposition party discusses with civil servants their policy priorities.
Some of the most highly qualified figures with the experience for the post are former Treasury officials now earning much more in the private sector.
For example, Sir Tom Scholar, former Treasury permanent secretary sacked by Liz Truss during her shortlived premiership, is now chair of Nomura’s European operations and is said by friends to be enjoying his new career.
Starmer’s team declined to comment, not wishing to be seen to be pre-empting the result of the general election expected later this year. The party has maintained a consistent double-digit lead in polling since 2022.
But across Whitehall speculation is growing about the possible contenders for the post, which pays Case about £200,000 a year.
Sir Olly Robbins
A former Treasury and national security official before he was handed the gruelling job of negotiating Britain’s Brexit deal, Robbins has a good relationship with Gray. The two first met when Robbins was Tony Blair’s principal private secretary from 2006-7 and Gray was investigating the “cash for honours” scandal. He worked at Goldman Sachs after leaving Whitehall in 2019 and is now at advisory firm Hakluyt. Critics note he has never run a major government department.
Dame Melanie Dawes
Former Treasury official Dawes has been running the media regulator Ofcom since 2020 on a salary of £324,000 a year, according to the latest figures. A fluent media performer, she spent 15 years at the Treasury and also ran the housing and local government department. She was also formerly the civil service “champion” for diversity issues.
Dame Sharon White
With an impressive CV in the public and private sector, White is currently chair of the John Lewis Partnership. She announced last year that she would be standing down in 2025 and hoped to leave the group “in a more financially secure place” after a difficult period for the retailer. White was the first black Treasury permanent secretary and was Ofcom chief executive from 2015-19.
Jeremy Pocklington
The top civil servant at the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, Pocklington is regarded by fellow officials as businesslike, pragmatic and “a mandarin’s mandarin”. Previously the most senior official at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, he has also led the Treasury’s enterprise and growth unit. “He is highly regarded, including by the Treasury. Sue knows and likes him,” said one well-placed Labour figure.
Antonia Romeo
The permanent secretary at the Ministry of Justice since 2021, Romeo was being lined up by Truss’s chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng to succeed Scholar at the Treasury in October 2022, before market chaos persuaded him to choose old Treasury hand James Bowler to try to steady the ship. Romeo’s high media profile privately riles some colleagues. Romeo was previously the permanent secretary at the Department for International Trade.
Peter Schofield
Currently permanent secretary at the Department for Work and Pensions, Schofield also has experience working in the Treasury and was previously seconded to private equity firm 3i. A more anonymous figure among the top echelon of officials, his lower profile shows he has “kept his head down and his nose clean”, according to one colleague.
Schofield recently disclosed a diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease, saying he wanted employers to do more to help people with health conditions stay in work: “I don’t want people, when they get a diagnosis like the one I’ve had, to have a sense that you can’t carry on doing a big job.”
Sarah Healey
Permanent secretary at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Healey is viewed by colleagues as charismatic, personable and down to earth — a more modern style of mandarin. She was previously the top official at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, and has worked in the Cabinet Office. Labour insiders are not convinced she would be the recommendation of Starmer’s chief of staff Gray, who served as second-in-command to Healey in her current role. The pair did not gel easily, according to colleagues.