Antonia Romeo appointed UK’s first female cabinet secretary
UK prime minister Sir Keir Starmer has announced today that Dame Antonia Romeo is the new cabinet secretary and head of the civil service. She is the first woman to be appointed to the top job since the cabinet secretary role was created more than 100 years ago.
Romeo succeeds Sir Chris Wormald who had held the role since December 2024 and stood down on 12 February having negotiated the terms for his resignation with the government.
Romeo, who was previously permanent secretary of the Home Office and two other departments, is the longest serving permanent secretary of the current cadre of departmental heads and has 25 years’ experience in the civil service, including as a diplomat and expert in trade.
She starts in her new role with immediate effect.
Marking her appointment, Starmer described Romeo as an “outstanding public servant” with a long record of delivering for the British people, and said he had been “impressed by her professionalism and determination to get things done”.
She will be instrumental in driving the government’s reform programme, first set out in March 2025, when Starmer said “nothing less than a complete rewiring of the British state” was required “to deliver bold and ambitious long-term reform”.
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Details of the reform plan and its implementation have emerged over the last 10 months. Changes include greater use of technology, including AI, to streamline government operations and improve public services; delivery-focused performance management measures for senior civil servants; the creation of task forces for government priorities; a new National School of Government and Public Services; and efforts to cut ‘red tape’.
“[Romeo] has shown she is the right person to drive the government to reform and I look forward to working with her to deliver this period of national renewal,” Starmer said.
Becoming cabinet secretary a ‘huge privilege’
Romeo said it was a “huge privilege” to be appointed to the role.
“The civil service is a great and remarkable institution, which I love. We should be known for delivery, efficiency and innovation, working to implement the government’s agenda and meet the challenges the country faces.
“I look forward to working with all colleagues across the civil service to do this, in support of the prime minister and the government.”
Romeo was one of 12 permanent secretaries interviewed for Global Government Forum’s Rewiring the state: Unlocking Government Transformation report last year. Led by Lord Gus O’Donnell, the study explores the barriers and enablers to transformation in government, with a particular emphasis on the role of digital technologies and data.
Career credentials
An economist by background, Romeo first joined the civil service in 2000, following an early career in the private sector at strategic consultancy firm Oliver Wyman.
As well as her time as permanent secretary of the Home Office, she has also served as the most senior civil servant in the Ministry of Justice, and the since renamed Department for International Trade, which she set up from scratch following the UK’s exit from the EU.
Her other roles in the civil service include director general, economic and commercial affairs USA; British consul general to New York; director general, economic and domestic secretariat; government’s special envoy to the US technology companies; and director general of criminal justice.
In her new role, she will work closely with Cat Little, permanent secretary to the Cabinet Office and chief operating officer for the civil service, as well as with other departmental heads, the PM and ministers.
Wormald’s departure
The government announced last week that Starmer and Wormald had “agreed by mutual consent” that he would stand down as cabinet secretary and head of the civil service. Though no official reason was given for his departure, there had been months of media briefings against him and it is understood he was forced out by government.
In a government release marking his exit, Wormald said: “It has been an honour and a privilege to serve as a civil servant for the past 35 years, and a particular distinction to lead the service as cabinet secretary. I want to place on record my sincere thanks to the extraordinary civil servants, public servants, ministers, and advisers I have worked with. Our country is fortunate to have such dedicated individuals devoted to public service, and I wish them every success for the future.”
Starmer said he was grateful to Wormald for his “long and distinguished” career of public service, and for the support he had given him over the past year.
Read more: UK announces civil service reforms to ‘move fast and fix things’
About Mia Hunt
Mia has been editor of globalgovernmentforum.com since 2019. She has 15 years’ experience as a journalist and editor and specialises in writing for civil and public servants worldwide, including covering sustainability policy and related issues. She has led the Global Government Women’s Network since it launched in 2023. Previously, she covered commercial property having been market reports and supplements editor at Property Week and deputy editor at Retail Destination. She graduated from Kingston University London with a first-class honours degree in journalism and was part of the team that produced The River newspaper, which won Publication of the Year at the Guardian Student Media Awards in 2010.
