UK names Antonia Romeo as first woman to head civil service

[LONDON] UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government has appointed Antonia Romeo as the first woman to head the civil service.

She has filled a vacancy that suddenly and unexpectedly became available – after a spate of departures from his top team.

The 51-year-old will succeed Chris Wormald as Cabinet Secretary, a key role in helping the government deliver on its policy agenda.

A veteran of the civil service who has held the most senior post in three different government departments – most recently in the Home Office – she now becomes the first woman to assume the job in its 110-year history.

“Antonia 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.

“Since becoming the prime minister, I’ve been impressed by her professionalism and determination to get things done.”

Her promotion comes just 14 months after she was passed over for the same role in favour of Wormald.

His appointment raised eyebrows at the time, given Starmer had said he wanted “the fundamental re-wiring of the British state”, and Wormald was seen as a steady hand rather than someone likely to shake up the system. 

Romeo, on the other hand, is one of the more colourful senior figures in the civil service – a personality that has earned her a reputation as a self-promoter, which even her allies have said.

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A former consul-general in New York, she hosted glamorous parties with celebrities such as Vogue editor Anna Wintour and actor Joanna Lumley, and gave an interview to The Times – complete with a photo shoot – on her departure from the role.

Wormald quit his post earlier in February “by mutual agreement” with Starmer, following briefings to UK newspapers that his appointment had not worked out as hoped.

It was the third senior exit from the prime minister’s team over a five-day period that also included the departures of his chief of staff and director of communications.

Since then, Romeo – alongside Permanent Secretary Catherine Little at the Cabinet Office – and the Treasury’s top official, James Bowler, have been splitting the responsibilities of the role on an interim basis.

Her swift appointment had been expected, given she had been fully vetted just 15 months ago as one of the four candidates shortlisted when Wormald was promoted.

But there had also been warnings that a proper appointment procedure should be followed for the country’s top civil service post, notably from Simon McDonald, Romeo’s former boss at the Foreign Office where she was investigated over a bullying accusation.

“The due diligence needs to be thorough,” he told Channel 4 News earlier in February, when asked about her.

“If the candidate mentioned in the media is the one, in my view, the due diligence has some way still to go,” he added, in an unusually overt swipe against a senior mandarin. He said he was available to talk to 10 Downing Street if they wanted. 

However, Starmer’s team countered that the bullying allegations had been probed at the time and Romeo had been exonerated. 

“One formal complaint was raised nine years ago, and the allegations were dismissed on the basis there was no case to answer,” his spokesperson, Tom Wells, told reporters on Monday.

“Antonia Romeo is an outstanding leader with a 25-year record of excellent public service, including having been appointed to three permanent secretary roles,” he said, adding that “her track record is clear for all to see”.

As well as serving as the permanent secretary at the Home Office since April 2025, Romeo also headed up the justice department for the four years prior to that, championing the interests of her staff during a bullying row with former justice secretary Dominic Raab.

Before that, she held the top job at the Department for International Trade for four years. BLOOMBERG