Simon Case

Simon Case CVO (born 27 December 1978) is a British civil servant who has served as Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Home Civil Service since 9 September 2020, succeeding Sir Mark Sedwill.

Simon Case CVO
Case in 2016
Cabinet Secretary Head of the Home Civil Service
Incumbent
Assumed office 9 September 2020
Prime Minister	Boris Johnson
Preceded by	Sir Mark Sedwill
Downing Street Permanent Secretary
In office 22 May 2020 – 1 September 2020
Prime Minister	Boris Johnson
Preceded by	Sir Jeremy Heywood (2012)
Succeeded by	James Bowler (As Cabinet Office Second Permanent Secretary)[1]
Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
In office 11 January 2016 – 10 May 2017
Prime Minister	David Cameron Theresa May
Preceded by	Chris Martin
Succeeded by	Peter Hill
Personal details
Born	27 December 1978 Bristol, England
Citizenship	United Kingdom
Nationality	British
Spouse(s)	Elizabeth Kistruck ​ (m. 2007)​
Children	3
Education	Bristol Grammar School
Alma mater	Trinity College, Cambridge (BA) Queen Mary, University of London (PhD)

He previously served as Downing Street Permanent Secretary to Prime Minister Boris Johnson from May 2020.[2] That role had been vacant for eight years after Sir Jeremy Heywood left in 2012. From January 2016 to May 2017, Case served under David Cameron and Theresa May as Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.[3]

Early life and education

Case was born on 27 December 1978 in Bristol, England.[4] He was educated at Bristol Grammar School and Trinity College, Cambridge, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in History.[3][4] While at Cambridge, he rowed and was President of Cambridge University Lightweight Rowing Club.[5] He then undertook postgraduate research in political history at Queen Mary University of London, and graduated with a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in 2007.[3][4][6] His doctoral supervisor was Professor Peter Hennessy, and his thesis was titled The Joint Intelligence Committee and the German Question, 1947–61.[7]

Career

Case joined the Civil Service in 2006.[3] He worked first within the Ministry of Defence as a policy adviser.[8] He then worked in the Northern Ireland Office and the Cabinet Office.[3] In 2012, he served as Head of the Olympic Secretariat, a temporary team within the Cabinet Office that was set up to oversee the delivery of the 2012 London Summer Olympics.[8][9]

From 2012 and July 2014, Case worked at 10 Downing Street as a Private Secretary to the Prime Minister and then as Deputy Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister.[3] He then returned to the Cabinet Office, where he was Executive Director of the Implementation Group.[8] In March 2015, he joined Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) as Director of Strategy.[10]

On 8 January 2016, Case was announced as the next Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister in succession to Chris Martin who had died while in office.[3] He took up the appointment on 11 January 2016 until he was succeeded by Peter Hill on 10 May 2017.[3][10] On 23 June 2017, he was appointed a Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (CVO) in recognition of his service in that role.[11]

In March 2017, Case was announced as the Director General for the UK–EU Partnership.[12] He took up the post in May 2017.[13] In this role he was "leading the UK Government's work on exiting and seeking a new partnership with the European Union within the UK Representation to the EU".[12] In January 2018, he was appointed Director General Northern Ireland and Ireland:[14] in this role, he acted as the lead civil servant for finding a solution to the Irish border issue post-Brexit.[15]

In March 2018, it was announced that Case would be the next Private Secretary to the Duke of Cambridge: he took up the appointment in July 2018.[16] Also in 2018, Case was appointed a Visiting Professor at King's College London, having previously been a Visiting Senior Research Fellow at the university.[17]

Head of the Home Civil Service and Cabinet Secretary

In August 2020 Case was announced in the Financial Times as Lord Sedwill's successor as Head of the Home Civil Service.[18][19] Case took up the position on 9 September 2020.

Personal life

In 2007, Case married Elizabeth Kistruck, chief finance officer for Hotels.com at Expedia Inc, they have three daughters.[4]

References

1. Jill, Rutter. "Number 10 needs to sort out its internal chaos fast". UK in a Changing Europe. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
2. "Prince William loses right-hand man to Downing Street". HELLO!. 22 May 2020. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
3. "PM's new Principal Private Secretary: Simon Case". GOV.UK. Prime Minister's Office, 10 Downing Street. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
4. "CASE, Dr Simon". Who's Who 2017. Oxford University Press. November 2016. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
5. Kidd, Patrick (2 September 2020). "Dress down to climb ladders". Times. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
6. "Case, Dr Simon, (born 27 Dec. 1978), Private Secretary to the Duke of Cambridge, since 2018." WHO'S WHO & WHO WAS WHO. 1 Dec. 2016
7. "The Joint Intelligence Committee and the German Question, 1947–61". Queen Mary University of London. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
8. Agbonlahor, Winnie (26 June 2014). "PM's private secretary to lead Implementation Unit". Civil Service World. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
9. Chambers, Joshua (2 November 2012). "The other Team GB". Civil Service World. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
10. "Downing Street names Simon Case as David Cameron's new principal private secretary". Civil Service World. 8 January 2016. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
11. "CENTRAL CHANCERY OF THE ORDERS OF KNIGHTHOOD". London Gazette. 7 July 2017. Retrieved 8 July 2017.
12. "Senior appointments at UK Permanent Representation to the EU". GOV.UK. Foreign & Commonwealth Office. 10 March 2017. Retrieved 8 July 2017.
13. "Simon Case". GOV.UK. Retrieved 8 July 2017.
14. "Director General Simon Case". GOV.UK. Retrieved 28 March 2018.
15. O'Carroll, Lisa (26 March 2018). "Brexit official tasked with solving Irish border issue quits". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 March 2018.
16. Ship, Chris (26 March 2018). "Prince William's new Private Secretary swaps Brexit for Royal Household". ITV News. Retrieved 28 March 2018.
17. https://www.kcl.ac.uk/archive/news/sspp/newsrecords/2018/clare-lombardelli-simon-case-new-visiting-professors
18. "Boris Johnson picks No 10 official to be head of UK civil service". Financial Times. 31 August 2020. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
19. "Simon Case appointed as Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service" (Press release). Gov.uk. 1 September 2020. Retrieved 2 September 2020. The Prime Minister has appointed Simon Case as the Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service. Simon is currently the Permanent Secretary in Number 10.