Who is Antonia Romeo and why is she tipped to be the next cabinet secretary?
Antonia Romeo is not a typical civil servant, according to almost everyone who has worked with or met her in a professional context,Charming, ambitious and not afraid to publicise her own achievements, Romeo was on the shortlist to be cabinet secretary a year ago when Keir Starmer opted instead for a classic “Sir Humphrey” choice in Chris Wormald,But with Wormald now forced out, the permanent secretary of the Home Office finds herself back at the top of the list of appointable candidates and the frontrunner to succeed him,Whitehall sources said earlier this week that Romeo’s appointment was the most likely option but “not nailed on” because No 10 “still don’t know what they want”,It is understood, however, that Downing Street very much intends to appoint her, subject to the civil service commissioner’s approval of the process.
One senior person who has worked with Romeo, 51, says she is “clearly an outstanding candidate and would be a good choice for Starmer … she’s full of ideas”.She has clearly impressed the home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, who also worked with her at the Ministry of Justice (MoJ).At the same time, some senior civil servants give a slightly disapproving murmur about Romeo’s tendency towards self-promotion, noting that she has her detractors as well as her supporters.As one put it: “She would not be a risk-free choice.”The scepticism about her comes from the more traditional corners of the civil service, where eyebrows have been raised about smiling social media content covering her activities as a permanent secretary and posts on X about the MoJ Christmas tree at a time when the court service was in crisis.
She is more outward-facing than almost all of her peers, not shy of attending events where members of the media could be present, and good at networking internally within the civil service,“She goes to parties and looks like she’s enjoying herself, in contrast with the vast majority of permanent secretaries I’ve known,” said one Whitehall insider,This approachability is deeply counter to the invisible nature of much of the civil service, but may be what Starmer wants this time as he seeks someone to shake Whitehall out of what he has described as a “tepid bath of managed decline”,On the surface, Romeo’s career has followed a very conventional trajectory through the ranks of the permanent secretaries,She attended Westminster school and Oxford University, then spent a brief stint working for the management consulting company Oliver Wyman before joining the civil service as a principal private secretary.
She rose steadily through the ranks, becoming permanent secretary at the Department for International Development and the MoJ, and spent time as consul general in New York.During her stint in the US, she was charged with promoting UK trade and hosted a series of parties for celebrity figures including Alexa Chung, Calvin Klein, Joanna Lumley and Anna Wintour.She was criticised in a series of media reports for overspending on the role but a Cabinet Office investigation found no case to answer.Her former permanent secretary at the Foreign Office, Simon McDonald, raised concerns on Wednesday that there should be “more due diligence” over the matter.But responding to it at the time, the head of the FDA union, Dave Penman, said there was a “whiff of misogyny about it”.
“If you are the trade ambassador for the east coast of the United States, then it’s creative industries, it’s fashion, that’s what it’s all about,” he said.“That’s the sort of person you want rather than someone who’s going to be sitting in their apartment seven nights a week.”It was subsequently during her time at the MoJ that she earned respect within the civil service for having told Dominic Raab that he must treat staff professionally and with respect amid unhappiness about his return after allegations of bullying behaviour towards officials.She has also built a reputation as being committed to equality, serving as a “civil service gender inclusion champion” in a move that has led the Daily Mail to call her Whitehall’s “queen of woke”.In a civil service leadership lecture in 2022, Romeo gave a sense of how she operates.
“At its heart, leadership is about people and creating the conditions for them to thrive,” she said,“In my view, leadership over the next five years will be bringing in the best talent, creating genuine progression and opportunities for that talent and setting a culture of purpose,“Ultimately, it’s about creating a culture in which colleagues can take pride, a work ethic characterised by the desire to serve the public and, in everything we do, leading with purpose,”With Starmer having talked about wanting to “rewire” the civil service completely, Romeo would have the difficult job as cabinet secretary of carrying that out while maintaining morale that has been dented by No 10’s lack of decisiveness about policy and ruthlessness in relation to Wormald,Her reputation for being warm and forthright is what has apparently impressed Mahmood at the MoJ and the Home Office, where Romeo has spent the last year getting to grips with the small boat crisis and changes to the immigration system.
Twice shortlisted for the role of cabinet secretary before but overlooked in favour of male candidates, it appears her combination of diplomacy and decisiveness is what Starmer is looking for next.
Jon Stewart calls Maga backlash to Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl show ‘actually pathetic’
Late-night hosts addressed the performative Maga outrage over Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl half-time show.Jon Stewart returned to his Monday night Daily Show post fired up about the Super Bowl, and particularly the outrage from conservative pundits such as Megyn Kelly and Benny Johnson over Bad Bunny’s half-time show, which he performed, as usual entirely in Spanish.Stewart played numerous clips of Fox News hosts et al complaining that they couldn’t understand the Spanish, then cut to a clip of Turning Point USA “All-American Halftime Show” headliner, Kid Rock, singing his hit Bawitdaba, with its gibberish chorus.The host then tore into the rightwing talking point that Bad Bunny’s half-time show, whose overarching theme was pan-American unity, was not “unifying” because it was in Spanish. “Why the fuck is it the Super Bowl Halftime entertainer’s job to unify the country? Is that their job?” he fumed
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind was never a love story. It was a warning
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is a film about the gap between what we think we can control and what happens when reality hits. Over the years, many critics and fans have celebrated Michel Gondry’s film as a tender-hearted love story. But a rewatch might reveal that Gondry’s second collaboration with postmodern American screenwriter Charlie Kaufman is much closer to another, twistier genre: hard sci-fi.By now, the story of Eternal Sunshine is familiar. Depressed introvert Joel (Jim Carrey) meets Clementine (Kate Winslet), whose box-dyed hair colour and moods change as often as the weather
Actor Catherine O’Hara died of a blood clot in her lungs, death certificate says
Catherine O’Hara, the Emmy-winning actor and beloved star of the series Schitt’s Creek and the 1990 hit movie Home Alone, died from a blood clot in her lungs, her death certificate revealed Monday.The death certificate released by the Los Angeles county medical examiner’s office also listed rectal cancer as an underlying cause.The Canadian-born performer was rushed to the hospital on 30 January after having difficulty breathing at her home in the ritzy Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles.The 71-year-old, who starred in Beetlejuice and more recently in Apple TV’s Hollywood satire show The Studio, was declared dead a short time later.The actor’s death sent shock waves through Hollywood with tributes pouring in from past co-stars – including Schitt’s Creek creators Eugene and Dan Levy, Beetlejuice’s Michael Keaton and Home Alone’s Macaulay Culkin
‘We recorded it in a kitchen!’ How China Crisis made Black Man Ray
Ed and I had just come off a long tour of Europe and North America supporting Simple Minds and needed a break. I immersed myself in music-making with a synth, drum machine and a four-track Tascam Portastudio. I was very inspired by Brian Eno. I’d seen the words “found sounds” on his album credits. The notion that any sound could be included in a recording struck me as magical
Perth festival 2026: Swan River bursts to life with a stunning trail of stories and light
From dazzling light installations to unexpected conversations on pop-up phones, Perth festival has opened with a timely celebration of culture and communityGet our weekend culture and lifestyle emailAs families gather for sunset at Perth’s Kings Park, a giant golden orb glows on the horizon, shooting ribbons of light into the night sky.“It looks like an upside down jellyfish!” a child shouts gleefully, gazing up at this mysterious beacon. Others watch from park benches or drift slowly around its base, as a gentle wash of sound spills from its centre. The work is called Karla Bidi, translating to “fire trail” in Noongar: a light and sound installation that draws on the ancient practice of lighting campfires along the Derbarl Yerrigan (Swan River), which marks the opening of this year’s Perth festival.Featuring 11 installations stretching from Mandoon (Guildford) to Walyalup (Fremantle), Karla Bidi lights a path between communities along the river – a trail of gathering places that recalls how these banks have always been a place for story and connection
Porky Pig and Daffy Duck: ‘Jacob Elordi! That hair! Those dreamboat eyes!’
Ducks typically live between five and 10 years, and pigs 10 to 20. You first appeared on screen in 1935 and 1937, which makes you 91 and 89, respectively. What’s your secret to your eternally youthful looks?Daffy Duck: Firtht of all, it’s very rude to comment on a duck’s age. Thecond of all, thank you for noticing how youthful I look. My thecret is very thimple – moisturise daily, stay hydrated and tell the artist who draws you to take out any wrinkles
Children’s vocabulary shrinking as reading loses out to screen time, says Susie Dent
‘We’re on a cliff edge’: the struggle to keep youth services alive in Knowsley
Youth work ‘black holes’ in half of all council areas in England, study finds
One in 14 children who die in England have closely related parents, study finds
Parents of children taken in to care should get more help, say experts after Victoria Marten death
Reading and writing can lower dementia risk by almost 40%, study finds