Sir Mark Sedwill could be removed as head of the Civil Service as early as this week in a shake-up by Number 10 according to various reports from media outlets such as the Telegraph.
The Prime Minister is reportedly looking to shake up Whitehall and the UK’s most senior civil servant, looks set to announce his departure as early as this week under Boris Johnson’s plans for a Whitehall revolution.
Several sources told The Sunday Telegraph that an announcement would be made about Sir Mark’s future as early as Monday.
Sir Mark was appointed National Security Adviser by Theresa May in 2017 and then was made Cabinet Secretary a year later and controversially allowed to do both jobs, however according to the Telegraph, the ousting, if it does go ahead, will show the long-planned shake-up of the Civil Service by Dominic Cummings, Mr Johnson’s chief aide, is gathering pace.
One source said Sir Mark was “fighting to stay as National Security Adviser” and already seemed resigned to losing his post as Cabinet Secretary.
The source said: “He knows he has lost one half of his job. He is fighting to keep the national security one but they want to take everything off him and give him a non-job.”
It has been alleged that Mr Cummings told a meeting of political aides last week that “a hard rain is going to fall” after setting out several Whitehall’s failures during the coronavirus pandemic.
Asked about Sir Mark’s future on Saturday night, a spokesman for Mr Johnson said: “The Cabinet Secretary continues to work closely with his senior team to ensure the Government receives the best advice.”
The Prime Minister announced an overhaul of the way he runs Number 10 on Saturday night, the government will be setting up three strategic committees to focus on domestic, international and economic priorities.
Mr Johnson is set to chair all three while Cabinet ministers will lead groups tasked with driving forward implementation, including a new economic operations committee to support the country’s economic recovery.
Government sources said: “The successful model that the Government has been using during the coronavirus response, as well as to deliver and implement the British public’s decision to leave the EU”.
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Editor-in-Chief | Carl D. Pearson has been involved in British politics and media from an early age, with the key knowledge of what it takes to run a news organisation for the 21st century. Mr Pearson, as Editor-in-chief, is responsible for supervising the daily tasks of publishing media and content to UNN’s website and various platforms.
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