Sir Chris Wormald has been named as the new cabinet secretary and head of the civil service.
The 56-year-old, who will now advise the prime minister on key policy decisions, will replace Simon Case on 16 December after he announced he is stepping down for health reasons.
Sir Chris is currently permanent secretary at the Department of Health and Social Care, advising the health secretary on policy and managing the budget since 2016 – all through the COVID pandemic.
Sir Keir Starmer, who gave final approval for Sir Chris, said he “brings a wealth of experience to this role at a critical moment in the work of change this new government has begun”.
The decision to promote Sir Chris is the biggest of Sir Keir’s premiership so far, with the civil servant having overseen large-scale reforms of several government departments – something that will have appealed to the PM.
The prime minister said his “mission-led” administration will change the way government serves the country, which “will require nothing less than the complete re-wiring of the British state to deliver bold and ambitious long-term reform”.
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“Delivering this scale of change will require exceptional civil service leadership,” Sir Keir added.
“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.”
What does a cabinet secretary do?
They are the most senior civil service adviser to the prime minister and his cabinet.
Their role is to support and advise on the running of cabinet and cabinet committees, helping prepare agendas and supporting the government in reaching a collective agreement on policies.
They are often one of the PM’s senior advisers on how government works, and on major policy decisions.
How the PM and his cabinet secretary work together makes a big difference to the cabinet secretary’s influence.
They are also in charge of ensuring the civil service acts to deliver key manifesto commitments and policies, brokering decisions between ministers and departments and making sure they are followed through.
Not all cabinet secretaries are head of the civil service, but the last few have been.
This involves them managing civil servants, convening meetings of the departmental permanent secretaries, leading reform and improvement of the civil service and representing the civil service in parliament and in the media.
Most cabinet secretaries are appointed by the prime minister of the day, sometimes on the recommendation of the outgoing cabinet secretary.
After Mark Sedwill stood down in 2020 there was a formal competitive process to replace him, however Simon Case reportedly did not apply and was asked to take on the job by Boris Johnson.
Candidates to replace Mr Case were asked for a CV and a cover letter before being interviewed by a panel of former cabinet secretaries, permanent secretaries, head of the Ministry of Defence and the civil service commissioner.
Sir Keir then had the final say to appoint the role, which was advertised with a salary of about £200,000.
Sir Chris said he was “delighted” to be appointed to the “privileged role of leading our talented civil service”.
“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,” he added.
“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.”
Professor Sir Chris Whitty, chief medical officer, will head up the Department for Health while a new permanent secretary is appointed.
Image: Former Brexit negotiator Sir Olly Robins is understood to have been Sue Gray’s top pick for cabinet secretary. Pic: Reuters
Sir Chris Wormald beat other senior current and former civil servants to the job, advertised with a £200,000 salary.
The other contenders were: Sir Olly Robbins, a former director-general of the civil service who was involved in Brexit talks, Dame Antonia Romeo, permanent secretary at the Ministry of Justice, and Tamara Finkelstein, permanent secretary at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
Some within Whitehall believe Sir Chris was a “safe choice” compared with the other options.
Image: Simon Case said he was stepping down as cabinet secretary after four years due to a neurological condition. Pic: PA
He steps into the shoes of Mr Case, 45, who was appointed in September 2020 and served four different prime ministers.
In an email to the civil service announcing his resignation in September, Mr Case said: “As many of you know, I have been undergoing medical treatment for a neurological condition over the last 18 months and, whilst the spirit remains willing, the body is not.
“It is a shame that I feel I have to spell this out, but my decision is solely to do with my health and nothing to do with anything else.”
Mr Case announced his resignation following a difficult few weeks for Downing Street during which damaging leaks and internal rows took over the narrative, with Sir Keir growing increasingly frustrated.
The top civil servant was said to have had a tense relationship with Sue Gray, Sir Keir’s former chief of staff who stepped down in October following accusations from some Labour figures about the party’s handling of ministers taking freebies.
Major developers will only deal with one regulator under planning reforms which ministers say will “rewire the system” to get Britain building – all while protecting the environment.
A review by former Labour adviser Dan Corry into Britain’s sluggish system of green regulation has concluded that existing environmental regulators should remain in place, while rejecting a “bonfire of regulations”.
But Mr Corry suggested there might be circumstances in which the government look at changing the wildlife and habit rules inherited from the EU, which protect individual species.
The government has now explicitly ruled out any such change in this parliament.
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Campaigners have questioned whether the changes go far enough and will make a major difference to the rate and scale of building in the UK.
Speaking to Sky News, Environment Secretary Steve Reed insisted that accepting nine of the recommendations from the Corry review would amount to wholesale reform.
The minister said: “We can get a win-win for economic growth and for nature. And that is why we are moving ahead with proposals such as appointing a lead regulator for major developments so that the developers don’t have to navigate the architecture of multiple regulators.
“They just work for a single regulator who manages all the others on their behalf. Simplifying the online planning portal.
“These are huge changes that will save developers billions of pounds and speed up decisions doing damage to the environment.”
Mr Reed insisted that there would be “no more bat tunnels” built, even though the Corry review suggests that more work needs to be done to look again at the relevant guidance.
It says: “Rapidly reviewing the existing catalogue of compliance guidance, including on protecting bats, will identify opportunities to remove duplication, ambiguity or inconsistency.
“Natural England has already agreed to review and update their advice to Local Planning Authorities on bats to ensure there is clear, proportionate and accessible advice available.”
The review will mean:
• Appointing one lead regulator for every major infrastructure project, like Heathrow expansion
• A review on how nature rules are implemented – but not the rules themselves
• Insisting regulators focus more on government priorities, particularly growth
Economist and former charity leader Mr Corry, who led the review, said it shows that “simply scrapping regulations isn’t the answer”.
“Instead we need modern, streamlined regulation that is easier for everyone to use. While short-term trade-offs may be needed, these reforms will ultimately deliver a win-win for both nature and economic growth in the longer run.”
However, Sam Richards from Britain Remade, a thinktank trying to get Britain growing, said that while the steps are welcome, the number of regulators that report to the environment department would remain the same before and after the review. He questioned whether this would have the impact ministers claimed.
Kentucky’s finance watchdog has dismissed its lawsuit against Coinbase over the exchange’s staking rewards program, following its peers in Vermont and South Carolina.
Kentucky’s Department of Financial Institutions filed the stipulation to dismiss jointly with Coinbase on April 1, ending the state’s legal action against the exchange first filed along with 10 other state regulators in June 2023.
Coinbase chief legal officer Paul Grewal posted to X on April 1, calling for Congress “to end this litigation-driven, state-by-state approach with a federal market structure law.”
Financial regulators from 10 states launched similar suits against Coinbase in June 2023, on the same day the Securities and Exchange Commission sued the exchange — a lawsuit the SEC dropped last month.
Seven suits against Coinbase still active
Alabama, California, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, Washington and Wisconsin are the seven states that are still continuing with their lawsuits, which all allege Coinbase breached securities laws with its staking rewards program.
Vermont was the first state to end its suit against Coinbase, with its Department of Financial Regulation filing an order to rescind the action on March 13, noting the SEC’s Feb. 27 decision to drop its action against the exchange and the likelihood of changes in the federal regulator’s guidance.
The South Carolina Attorney General’s securities division followed Vermont days later, dismissing its lawsuit in a joint stipulation with Coinbase on March 27.
Kentucky’s decision to drop its case against Coinbase follows just days after the state’s governor, Andy Beshear, signed a “Bitcoin Rights” bill into law on March 24 that establishes protections for crypto self-custody and exempts crypto mining from money transmitting and securities laws.
The axed state-level lawsuits come amid a stark policy change at the SEC, which has dropped or delayed multiple lawsuits against crypto companies that it filed under the Biden administration.
The federal securities watchdog has also created a Crypto Task Force that is engaging with the industry on how it should approach cryptocurrencies.
Sir Keir Starmer has said US-UK trade talks are “well advanced” ahead of tariffs expected to be imposed by Donald Trump on the UK this week – but rejected a “knee-jerk” response.
Speaking to Sky News political editor Beth Rigby, the prime minister said the UK is “working hard on an economic deal” with the US and said “rapid progress” has been made on it ahead of tariffs expected to be imposed on Wednesday.
But, he admitted: “Look, the likelihood is there will be tariffs. Nobody welcomes that, nobody wants a trade war.
“But I have to act in the national interest and that means all options have to remain on the table.”
Sir Keir added: “We are discussing economic deals. We’re well advanced.
“These would normally take months or years, and in a matter of weeks, we’ve got well advanced in those discussions, so I think that a calm approach, a collected approach, not a knee-jerk approach, is what’s needed in the best interests of our country.”
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Downing Street said on Monday the UK is expecting to be hit by new US tariffs on Wednesday – branded “liberation day” by the US president – as a deal to exempt British goods would not be reached in time.
A 25% levy on car and car parts had already been announced but the new tariffs are expected to cover all exports to the US.
Jonathan Reynolds, the business and trade secretary, earlier told Sky News he is “hopeful” the tariffs can be reversed soon.
But he warned: “The longer we don’t have a potential resolution, the more we will have to consider our own position in relation to [tariffs], precluding retaliatory tariffs.”
He added the government was taking a “calm-headed” approach in the hope a deal can be agreed but said it is only “reasonable” retaliatory tariffs are an option, echoing Sir Keir’s sentiments over the weekend.
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0:28
‘Everything on table over US tariffs’
Mr Trump will unveil his tariff plan on Wednesday afternoon at the first Rose Garden news conference of his second term, the White House press secretary said.
“Wednesday, it will be Liberation Day in America, as President Trump has so proudly dubbed it,” Karoline Leavitt said.
“The president will be announcing a tariff plan that will roll back the unfair trade practices that have been ripping off our country for decades. He’s doing this in the best interest of the American worker.”
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3:09
Trump’s tariffs: What can we expect?
Tariffs would cut UK economy by 1%
UK government forecaster the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) said a 20 percentage point increase in tariffs on UK goods and services would cut the size of the British economy by 1% and force tax rises this autumn.
Global markets remained flat or down on Monday in anticipation of the tariffs, with the FTSE 100 stock exchange trading about 1.3% lower on Monday, closing with a 0.9% loss.
On Wall Street, the S&P 500 rose 0.6% after a volatile day which saw it down as much as 1.7% in the morning.
However, the FTSE 100 is expected to open about 0.4% higher on Tuesday, while Asian markets also steadied, with Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 broadly unchanged after a 4% slump yesterday.