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Sir Mark said it had been a privilege to have served in “extraordinary times”
Boris Johnson has rejected criticism of the departure of the UK’s top official, saying the timing of Sir Mark Sedwill’s departure was “very logical.”
Labor has said the prime minister should focus on the economic crisis facing the country rather than “abandon” top officials.
Sir Keir Starmer said the decision showed that the Prime Minister had the wrong priorities.
But the prime minister said Sir Mark “wanted to move on” and that now was a sensible moment since he had seen the UK through “the most difficult part” of the pandemic.
“Mark has done a great deal,” he said on a visit to west London. “He made a change of prime minister, Brexit did, he managed the country despite the most difficult part of the coronavirus crisis.”
Sir Mark will step down as the UK’s top official in September and will also resign his role as the prime minister’s national security adviser.
Prime Minister’s chief Brexit negotiator David Frost, who is not a public official, will take over as national security adviser. He has been criticized by Lord O’Donnell, who was the chief adviser to Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, and David Cameron.
And unions criticized what they said were “corrosive and cowardly” reports against Sir Mark in the press, suggesting tensions between him and the prime minister’s political advisers.
The Labor leader suggested that the departure of Sir Mark, the latest in a series of high-ranking public officials to withdraw since the general election, was ill-timed as the UK was in the midst of an economic and health emergency.
“I think it is a matter of priorities,” he told Radio 4’s Today. “We have an economic crisis around the corner and what is the prime minister doing? He is beginning to remove the cabinet secretary from his post.”
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David Frost to become national security adviser when EU trade talks are completed
“Focusing on the economic crisis, starting to prepare a budget, this is a matter of priorities.”
Theresa May chose Sir Mark to be Cabinet Secretary, a role in which she advises on the implementation of government policy and conduct, the death of Sir Jeremy Heyward in November 2018.
Ministers have said the process for choosing his successor will be painstaking, with senior officials currently running departments or experienced in doing so encouraged to apply.
Possible candidates include Simon Case, recently appointed permanent secretary within No. 10, Alex Chisholm, director of operations for the Civil Service, and Antonia Romeo, who heads the Department of International Trade.
The prime minister played down reports that he wanted a staunch Brexiteer on paper.
“The best thing about civil service is that no one should know, least of all me,” he said. “They are impartial, they are the best in the world. Who knows what their views will be?”
‘Yes men’
Lord O’Donnell said he would have preferred Sir Mark to have remained in office and was concerned about Frost’s choice to be a national security adviser given that he had largely specialized in trade matters during his years in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. and while working in the private sector.
“I am not quite sure how putting a special advisor in that role works and how that is consistent with Michael Gove’s desire for a deep understanding of the subject,” he told Radio 4’s Today.
The appointment, which in the past used to be filled by career diplomats, was a “clear example” of the independence of the civil service being eroded, he added.
“Political appointees are more likely to be subject to group thinking, more likely to be men, more likely to say what ministers want to hear, opposed to telling the truth to power, that’s what it’s all about.”
But Secretary of Education Gavin Williamson said Frost had a history of “impeccable public service” and that the goal was always to find the best person for the job.
