How to pick Simon Case’s successor as cabinet secretary

Simon Case’s time as cabinet secretary looks likely to be concluding around the end of this year. He will have done the job for just over four years during a turbulent and difficult period of British government – starting during the pandemic, surviving the Truss debacle and serving four prime ministers.

There are plenty of rumours about his possible successor, with many credible current and former permanent secretary candidates being mentioned. Whoever does the job will be faced with an ambitious new administration that wants to approach governing differently, as well as huge pressures on public finances and services, and a civil service in need of confident leadership.  

So the prime minister needs to take a fundamental look at the role of the cabinet secretary and the qualities they need. He must also follow an appointment process that gives the next cabinet secretary the authority to do the job.

Appoint a system leader respected by permanent secretaries

Cabinet secretary is an almost impossible job, and no one candidate will be the full package. Being the prime minister’s chief civil service policy adviser at the same time as leading an organisation of half a million people, called on to investigate the indiscretions of ministers and hammer out collective agreement across government, is no ordinary position.  

There will always be an element of the courtier to anyone doing a big job in the prime minister’s orbit. But there is no shortage of other courtiers in government. It is vital that the person doing this essential role has the authority to give tough and sometimes unwelcome advice to the prime minister.

That authority is also needed to get departments into line behind the prime minister’s agenda. The cabinet secretary must master and marshal the collective knowledge and experience of the civil service to the government’s ends. Starmer should look for a system leader to work out how the cross-departmental missions are to be embedded in government work while ensuring that other critical, but lower profile, areas such as contingency planning and resilience are not neglected. He needs a figure who can command the confidence and respect of the other permanent secretaries.  

The prime minister needs someone who will credibly help maintain high ethical standards across government. While Starmer has his ethics adviser Laurie Magnus and the new government has promised to brigade the existing watchdogs under an ethics commission, the cabinet secretary’s advice on and active guardianship of the ministerial code are essential.  

Find a candidate who can stand up for the civil service and be honest about its weaknesses

The right candidate will need to provide public leadership and backing for the civil service. Labour ministers have positively reset relationships, but as we saw from the row between the new chancellor and her predecessor, the civil service can still become a target and things will get tougher. The next cabinet secretary will need to hold the civil service to account for performing to a high standard while speaking up and speaking out when needed.

High performance also means recruiting somebody who takes the capability of the civil service seriously. It needs someone who can identify current capability weaknesses and find ways to address them – as well as anticipating and preparing for future needs. Former cabinet secretary Gus O’Donnell used ‘capability reviews’ to assess departments and to get them to up their game which should be a part of any new cabinet secretary’s pitch for the job.

A genuine and open process to appoint the new cabinet secretary is essential

Particularly at difficult times, the cabinet secretary is a central cog in government, someone who can align the resources of the state with the objectives of the prime minister and cabinet. A private secretary – or even a chief of staff – in No.10, or a permanent secretary in a department, does not have the standing to create that alignment.

Starmer was right not to move immediately to replace the cabinet secretary on taking office. It would have set a poor constitutional precedent and undermined the impartiality and permanence of the civil service. Taking the time to run a proper recruitment process also allows Starmer to get to know the core candidates and to use this period to identify the best fit for the job.  

But now he needs to run a proper competition, and be clear to the civil service and the public that he is not just waiting for an opportune moment to appoint a preferred candidate. A process in which everyone has confidence is essential for the authority of whoever ends up doing the job.

And Starmer, while taking advice from those around him, should remember that this is in the end his choice, and the success or failure of the appointment is on him. He has five years or perhaps more to govern. It is more important to get the right person into the job than to make a rushed mistake.