Who is Simon Case?

Simon Case is the Cabinet Secretary – the most senior policy adviser to the Prime Minister. It is a wide-ranging role which includes advising the Prime Minister on propriety and ethics and supporting the functioning of the cabinet. He is also the Head of the Civil Service and so leader of some 400,000 civil servants.

The youngest ever appointee as Cabinet Secretary, Case has been in the role since September 2020, having previously been Private Secretary to the Duke of Cambridge, and Principal Private Secretary to both David Cameron and Theresa May as Prime Minister. He moved to that role after coming into No.10 as permanent secretary in May 2020 to help with the response to Covid, when Mark Sedwill stood down.

Case was briefly in charge of the investigation into a series of alleged parties in 10 Downing Street and other government buildings, until it was reported in late 2021 that an alleged party took place in his office in December 2020. Sue Gray replaced him as leader of the investigation.