‘Disruptor’ in line to be top mandarin at the Treasury

Chancellor set to name Antonia Romeo in key role after sacking of ‘orthodox’ predecessor

KWASI KWARTENG is preparing to announce his new top civil servant this week, with a mandarin who worked alongside Liz Truss understood to be his favoured candidate.

Antonia Romeo, who is said to have outshone competition from across Whitehall, would be the first female permanent secretary at the Treasury.

The planned announcement comes as Mr Kwarteng and Ms Truss seek to restore calm following a fevered response to the Chancellor’s minibudget.

Mr Kwarteng’s sacking of Sir Tom Scholar, the previous permanent secretary, in his first week at the Treasury, prompted an outcry by Labour and former mandarins, who had already railed against Ms Truss’s repeated criticism of the department’s “orthodoxy”.

Meanwhile, three insiders have claimed that civil servants leaked details of an alleged row between the Prime Minister and Chancellor last week, with sources speculating that there had been a “malicious” attempt to undermine Ms Truss and Mr Kwarteng.

The meeting involved the Prime Minister, Chancellor, “political aides” and civil servants. “I can’t imagine it came from anyone on the political team,” said one source.

Alongside the announcement of a new permanent secretary, Mr Kwarteng is understood to be preparing to name a second permanent secretary – the number two civil service role – this week.

A source who has seen Ms Romeo at work said: “She is somebody who gets things done and is very focused on delivery, which is incredibly important – particularly for the current administration.” Some civil servants have described Ms Romeo as a “disruptor”.

Other permanent secretaries interviewed for the post were Tamara Finkelstein, who is at the environment department, and James Bowler, Ms Romeo’s successor at the Department for International Trade, along with Peter Schofield, who is at the Department for Work and Pensions, and Jeremy Pocklington, of the Department for Levelling Up.

The economic agenda undertaken by Ms Truss and Mr Kwarteng runs contrary to past arguments made by Treasury officials against radical tax cuts.

The Prime Minister regards the Treasury as too risk-averse and inclined to opt for high taxes rather than allowing taxpayers to spend more of their own money.

“This is not just about challenging the Treasury orthodoxy, but challenging the Whitehall orthodoxy to get things done,” Ms Truss said during the leadership campaign.

In July, Nadhim Zahawi, who was then chancellor, said: “I can tell you that my Treasury officials are some of the most intelligent, professional and hardworking people anywhere in the world. But they need the political leadership to deliver a step-change in how we run the nation’s finances, and Liz’s plans for a low-tax economy that puts growth first are what we need.”

Backing Ms Truss to become PM, Mr Zahawi added: “Liz will overturn stale economic orthodoxy and run our economy in a Conservative way.”

Ms Romeo, currently the permanent secretary at the Ministry of Justice, developed a close working relationship with Ms Truss when they were both at the Department of International Trade.

‘This is not just about challenging the Treasury orthodoxy but the Whitehall orthodoxy to get things done’

Her previous roles include serving as British consul general in New York, and a stint running the Government’s Economic and Domestic Secretariat in 2015.

Sir Tom had been Treasury permanent secretary since June 2016, and served with Rishi Sunak when he was chancellor.

Last week claims were reported of an argument between the Prime Minister and Chancellor over whether to replace a Treasury statement to calm turmoil in the gilt markets on Monday.

One source said: “There was a discussion about whether a statement on Monday was the right thing and both ended up violently agreeing it was the right thing. There was certainly no rift.” Reflecting on the past week, Mr Kwarteng told The Mail on Sunday last night: “One of the things that really ruined my sleep is the markets.”

He added: “That sort of thing is trying. I’ve had difficult times reacting to what’s happening but you know, I am very confident that this is the right thing to do and I am a really, really great believer in Britain.”