Profile: Sir Mark Sedwill – BBC Information

Lower than a 12 months in the past, Sir Mark Sedwill welcomed a smiling Boris Johnson to Downing Avenue after he grew to become prime minister.

Now, it’s Sir Mark’s flip to sign his exit from No 10.

Maybe extra so than any of his latest predecessors, he aptly suits the historic description of cupboard secretary as being some of the highly effective folks within the nation the general public have by no means heard of.

The 55-year outdated profession diplomat might not have had the large character of a few of those that proceeded him within the position, similar to Robert Armstrong, Robin Butler and Gus O’Donnell.

However he was arguably as highly effective and influential as any of them.

He suggested Boris Johnson, and earlier than him Theresa Could, through the eye of the Brexit storm and all through a turbulent twelve-month interval during which neither prime minister had a majority in Parliament.

He was centre stage, albeit nearly invariably behind the scenes, in a few of the most controversial selections of the previous 18 months, together with Boris Johnson’s illegal suspension of Parliament and the snap basic election.

And, not like his predecessors, he additionally had unprecedented enter when it got here to selections on nationwide safety, appearing concurrently because the PM’s nationwide safety adviser.

Sir Mark took over as cupboard secretary in November 2018, following the demise from most cancers of Sir Jeremy Heyward – having crammed in for him beforehand whereas he was receiving remedy.

Appointed with out a formal recruitment course of by Theresa Could, he received the ex-PM’s belief whereas serving as her prime civil servant within the House Workplace for 4 years.

• UK’s prime civil servant publicizes exit

Previous to that, he labored within the International Workplace for greater than twenty years, latterly as Ambassador to Afghanistan and as Nato’s senior civilian consultant in that war-torn nation.

Whereas advising Mrs Could, he led a high-profile investigation into alleged leaks of data from the Nationwide Safety Council over the Chinese language know-how agency Huawei, which led to the resignation of the then defence secretary Gavin Williamson.

This made him some highly effective enemies on the Conservative benches, notably amongst Go away supporters – a few of whom blamed the civil service for irritating the federal government’s technique on Brexit.

Whereas hardly ever venturing into public controversy, Sir Mark was fast to make his emotions identified when he believed the neutrality and independence of the civil service was being impugned.

He got here to the defence of Sir Kim Darroch after he was successfully pressured out as US Ambassador final 12 months, describing leaks resulting in his marginalisation by Donald Trump as a “stunning betrayal of belief”.

And showing earlier than MPs earlier this 12 months, he described Philip Rutnam’s controversial resignation from the House Workplace, amid a row over alleged bullying by the house secretary Priti Patel, as “regrettable”.

‘Cowardly’ briefings

Together with different main figures in Whitehall, Sir Mark – who’s married with one daughter – contracted coronavirus through the peak of the epidemic however continued working all through his sickness.

However there have been rising rumblings in Whitehall in regards to the civil service’s response to the disaster and questions on whether or not, given his twin tasks, Sir Mark had an excessive amount of on his plate.

The union representing senior civil servants – the FDA – mentioned Sir Mark had been intentionally undermined, and accused No 10 “or these round it” of conducting “cowardly” nameless briefings in opposition to him.

FDA Common Secretary Dave Penman mentioned the way in which Sir Mark had been handled was more likely to postpone gifted candidates for related jobs sooner or later.

The roles of cupboard secretary and nationwide safety adviser will now be separated with David Frost, the PM’s chief Brexit negotiator, taking up the latter.

After he leaves in September, Sir Mark will sit as a cross-bench peer within the Home of Lords and likewise chair a brand new panel on world financial system safety because the UK takes over the presidency of the G7.