Simon Case: 'Keeper of secrets' under scrutiny

In a period of heightened political turbulence, one senior civil servant has been attempting to keep his balance at the centre of power.

A former spy, and private secretary to Prince William, who came in for barbed criticism in Prince Harry's memoirs, Simon Case is a figure who seems to attract controversy and fascination in equal measure.

In his current job as cabinet secretary, he has served three very different prime ministers - a powerful, but largely invisible figure,

Sat at the PM's side at every cabinet meeting, but prevented from commenting publicly by civil service impartiality, his job is to ensure government policy is put into action.

But the cabinet secretary is also the PM's chief adviser - someone who has the power to find out what is really going on inside the government machine and to decide what should be reported back to his political master.

Good governance requires strong civil service leadership providing robust advice to ministers who behave with propriety.

Never more so than under a prime minister who has promised to lead a government of "integrity, professionalism and accountability at every level".

Which is why the spotlight has been turned on Mr Case in recent months, as Rishi Sunak has faced a series of controversies and scandals, including:

To his allies, Mr Case is considered to be a highly effective civil servant with a firm grasp on his duties.

Former business secretary, Jacob Rees-Mogg said he found the cabinet secretary to be "a good and efficient civil servant, who helped a democratically elected government deliver its promises in the proper way".

Another recent cabinet minister said: "He's a great man. A fixer by nature. Makes things happen and finds way through tricky problems".

His critics take a different view.

One former senior civil servant thinks Mr Case could have been more robust in challenging the prime ministers he's worked for.

"There are too many examples of things having happened that shouldn't have happened," they said.

As questions swirl over Mr Case, is the system of civil service working as it should be?

Mr Case first took the job in September 2020, when he replaced Sir Mark Sedwill, who was sacked by former Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

A Cambridge graduate with a PhD in political history, Mr Case ascended through the ranks of the civil service after joining in 2006. He held roles in the UK's intelligence agency, GCHQ, and in the Royal Household on the way to the job top.

At 41, he became the youngest cabinet secretary in recent times.

Before he took the post, Mr Case's former PhD tutor, historian Peter Hennessy, told the BBC: "From next week, he will be the ultimate keeper of secrets in the UK."

The appointment was a "surprise" and there were question marks over how much authority he'd have, given his relative inexperience, says Jill Rutter, a former senior civil servant.

But Ms Rutter, a senior research fellow of UK in a Changing Europe think tank, said Mr Case was put in a difficult position by the Johnson government, which "tested the boundaries of proprietary".

She mentioned the so-called Partygate affair as one example. When an internal investigation into lockdown parties at Downing Street was launched, Mr Case removed himself from the process after it emerged an event was hosted in his office.

Suddenly, the bespectacled cabinet secretary with a low profile was revealed by the glare of publicity.

Mr Johnson ultimately left office last year, but Mr Case stayed in post through the short-lived premiership of Liz Truss and into the current one of Mr Sunak.

Since then, his name has rarely been out of the media.

Questions have been raised about what Mr Case knew about an HMRC investigation into Nadhim Zahawi's tax affairs.

An inquiry by the prime minister's ethics adviser said Mr Zahawi "failed to disclose relevant information" about his tax affairs at the time of his appointment to the cabinet last October. That meant the Cabinet Office - which Mr Case oversees - was not in a position to inform Mr Sunak.

Still, Mr Zahawi did amend his internal declaration of ministerial interests last July to acknowledge his tax affairs were under investigation.

Then, in a separate development, it was reported that BBC Chairman Richard Sharp contacted Mr Case in late 2020 to discuss an offer of financial assistance for Mr Johnson.

In a memo leaked to the Sunday Times, dated 22 December, 2020, Mr Case allegedly warned Mr Johnson to "no longer" ask for his advice.

Mr Johnson's spokesman said he did not receive financial advice from Mr Sharp. Mr Sharp has denied involvement in arranging a loan or giving financial advice.

Speaking anonymously, one former civil servant recognised the challenge of working for Mr Johnson, "a prime minister with a low regard for the proper way of doing things".

Another former civil servant said he had "a bit of sympathy" for the cabinet secretary on other issues, especially the inquiry into bullying allegations against Mr Raab.

Mr Raab is facing multiple complaints about his behaviour in previous ministerial roles but has denied allegations of bullying.

The complaints are being investigated a senior lawyer, Adam Tolley KC.

The latest twist in the saga came after the Times newspaper reported Mr Case was personally informed of a complaint, months before Mr Sunak appointed Mr Raab as his deputy last year.

Speaking to reporters, Mr Sunak's spokesperson said Mr Sunak was standing by Mr Case despite not denying he may have failed to pass on a written complaint about Mr Raab.

A former civil service colleague described the apparent "briefing war" against the cabinet secretary as a "bad sign" for Mr Case.

The former civil servant said, in most cases, prime ministers are "never formally told" about these kinds of issues by cabinet secretaries.

"A bit of this is Sunak and his team trying to hide behind the civil service," the former civil servant said.

The BBC has been told, having spoken to Conservative MPs, that there is a view that Downing Street is shifting the blame.

A former Conservative cabinet minister said - in relation to the Raab bullying inquiry: "To blame Simon Case for everything people were gossiping about must have meant the prime minister had his head in the sand".

They said it was "improper to blame a civil servant who can't speak for himself".

Whitehall is a secretive place and the wiring is largely hidden from view. But with government standards in the spotlight, the civil service - and the man who heads it - is under scrutiny too.

A spokesperson for the Cabinet Office said: "The cabinet secretary is focused on ensuring that the civil service and the whole of government is working together to deliver for the British people."