Sir Chris Wormald, the United Kingdom’s most senior civil servant, has been ousted as Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service after just 14 months in the role—the shortest tenure in the post’s history.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, who appointed Wormald in December 2024, announced the departure today as “by mutual agreement.”

In a statement, Starmer expressed gratitude for Wormald’s “long and distinguished career of public service, spanning more than 35 years,” and for the support provided over the past year.

“I have agreed with him that he will step down as cabinet secretary today,” Starmer said. “I wish him the very best for the future.”

Wormald, in turn, described his time as “an honour and a privilege,” thanking the civil servants, public servants, ministers, and advisers he had worked alongside.

The Cabinet Office confirmed the move was amicable on paper, yet it follows persistent media reports of dissatisfaction in Downing Street with Wormald’s performance.

His exit comes amid a sweeping clear-out at the heart of government, marking the third high-profile departure in recent days.

It follows those of Starmer’s chief of staff Morgan McSweeney and communications director Tim Allan, all linked to the fallout from Lord Peter Mandelson’s controversial appointment as UK ambassador to Washington—despite his documented associations with the late Jeffrey Epstein.

Until a permanent replacement is named “shortly,” Wormald’s duties will be shared by three senior figures: Catherine Little, Permanent Secretary at the Cabinet Office; Dame Antonia Romeo, Permanent Secretary at the Home Office; and James Bowler, Permanent Secretary at the Treasury.

When appointing Wormald last year, Starmer charged him with overseeing “the complete re-wiring of the British state” to deliver bold, long-term reforms.

Critics at the time questioned whether a lifelong career civil servant was the ideal choice to drive radical change in the bureaucracy.

Wormald also bore ultimate responsibility for due diligence on senior appointments, including Mandelson’s ambassadorship, which he oversaw only days before its formal announcement.

He had been managing the government’s release of Parliament-demanded documents related to that process—a responsibility now thrown into uncertainty by his sudden removal.

Opposition leader Kemi Badenoch was quick to condemn the move, describing Wormald as “the latest person Keir Starmer has thrown under the bus to save his own skin.”

In a letter to the First Civil Service Commissioner, she urged delaying any forced exit until the Mandelson documents are fully disclosed, calling for a “full new process” to select a successor.

Dave Penman, general secretary of the FDA union representing senior civil servants, called the treatment of Wormald “a new low” in government-civil service relations.

“Wormald had barely started in the cabinet secretary role before the anonymous briefings started to scapegoat him and undermine his authority,” he said, highlighting days of open speculation.

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey added a pointed jab on X: “Very worried about who Keir Starmer will blame when there is literally no one else left in Number 10.”

Speculation is rife that Dame Antonia Romeo will emerge as the preferred successor—the frontrunner from the original shortlist when Wormald was chosen.

If appointed, she would become the first woman to head the Civil Service, potentially countering longstanding criticisms of a “boys’ club” culture in Downing Street amid reports of negative briefings about female figures.

Romeo has held senior positions at the Department for International Trade, Ministry of Justice, and Home Office.

However, her candidacy has drawn scrutiny. Former Foreign Office head Lord McDonald told Channel 4 News that any process must “start from scratch” and questioned whether due diligence on potential appointees was sufficient—apparently alluding to past allegations against Romeo concerning her spending as consul-general in New York in 2017 (when McDonald was her boss).

Those claims, from a single former employee’s grievance, were dismissed by the Cabinet Office as having “no case to answer,” with a spokesperson defending Romeo’s “25-year record of excellent public service.”

The appointment process will involve the First Civil Service Commissioner, currently Baroness Gisela Stuart.

Starmer has vowed to strengthen vetting for senior roles following controversies over Mandelson and Lord Matthew Doyle’s peerage, both despite links to convicted sex offenders.

Yet Wormald’s abrupt departure—while he oversaw related transparency efforts—has intensified concerns about accountability and the politicisation of the civil service’s highest echelons.

As Starmer attempts yet another reset, the rapid churn at the top leaves the machinery of government looking fragile at a time when stability and competence were meant to define his administration.