Top UK official Simon Case to step down on health grounds

LONDON — Britain’s most senior government official is being advised to step down permanently from his role for health reasons at the end of this year.

Simon Case, the Cabinet secretary, is one of the most powerful people at the center of the British government, and has been in the eye of a turbulent period in U.K. politics since he took up the role in 2020.

Like the 500,000 civil servants he leads, Case works almost entirely behind the scenes, in a pivotal but apolitical role advising the prime minister and his Cabinet. Like predecessors, he rarely speaks in public.

According to people familiar with the matter, Case is likely to need to step down in the new year on the advice of doctors, who are continuing to treat him for a neurological condition diagnosed more than a year ago.

Case is currently working at full capacity, but the condition is affecting his mobility and he now walks with the aid of a stick.

He took time off work due to illness in October last year, returning in January. His health problems delayed his appearance at the public inquiry into the U.K. government’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

The news of his expected departure will not be a surprise to newly-elected Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who has known about Case’s condition since the Cabinet secretary first took time off work last year.

Like the 500,000 civil servants he leads, Simon Case works almost entirely behind the scenes. | Justin Tallis/Getty Images

Case, 45, has been in charge during a dramatic period of upheaval in British politics without recent precedent.

Over the past four years, the U.K. civil service has had to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic; Russia’s invasion of Ukraine; the death of Queen Elizabeth II; an energy price and inflation crisis; a market crash; the abrupt downfall of prime ministers Boris Johnson and Liz Truss; and — following this month’s general election — a full change of government from one party to another.

A formal announcement, and the search for a successor, is expected in the new year. The Cabinet Office declined to comment.

Robbins to return?

The Cabinet secretary holds a critical role within the U.K. establishment, making up one-third of the so-called golden triangle of British officials at the center of power — along with the principal private secretary to the prime minister, and the principal private secretary to the king.

Several names are being discussed as potential successors to Case.

They include Theresa May’s former Brexit negotiator, Olly Robbins, and Antonia Romeo, the Ministry of Justice permanent secretary. Other less well-known figures include Tamara Finkelstein, permanent secretary at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; and Jeremy Pocklington, the top official at the Department for Energy and Net Zero.

One powerful voice in the recruitment process will be Sue Gray, the former senior government official who left the civil service last year to become Starmer’s chief of staff — a top political role at the heart of his operation. She was said by colleagues to have been privately critical of senior officials including Case before she left the civil service.

Two people familiar with the matter said Gray and Olly Robbins have met and spoken in recent months.

For Robbins, a second option could be a return to government to run the Prime Minister’s Office as permanent secretary, a role which is currently vacant.

Robbins found himself at the center of the Brexit storm as May’s chief negotiator at the most intense period of talks between the U.K. and the EU in 2018 and 2019.

The news of his expected departure will not be a surprise to newly-elected Prime Minister Keir Starmer. | Pool Photo by Alberto Pezzali via Getty Images

The deal he helped strike with Brussels ultimately fell apart after failing to win the backing of Britain’s parliament, triggering May’s downfall and ushering in the Boris Johnson era.

Robbins at the time became something of a hate figure for Tory Brexiteers, who saw him as too keen to maintain close ties with the EU.

But with the Tory Party now leaderless and reduced to a small rump of MPs, there would be little political pressure preventing his return.

Case’s controversies

Case, who also worked for a time on May’s Brexit team, has received his own share of criticism during his years in office, especially over the way Johnson’s inner circle handled the pandemic.

He was initially tasked with investigating allegations of lockdown-breaking parties held inside Johnson’s Downing Street headquarters, but stepped aside after POLITICO and other outlets reported that an impromptu drinks event had been held in his own office.

His appointment in 2020 at the age of 41 made him the youngest Cabinet secretary in more than a century. His supporters, including former ministers, say he’s worked diligently to fulfil his role, fixing problems and delivering the agenda of the government of the day during an unprecedented period of political, economic and constitutional turmoil.

Critics complain he hasn’t done enough to stand up for the civil service, especially during the premierships of Johnson and Truss, who led governments determined to go to war with what their allies called the “blob” of officialdom.

In May, Case apologized during his appearance at the Covid public inquiry for “raw” private WhatsApp messages with colleagues, which later became public, in which he was highly critical of Johnson’s leadership and the Downing Street operation during the pandemic.

Before working for Johnson, Case held the role of the most senior adviser to Prince William, who is next in line to the British throne.