Head of the Civil Service and Cabinet Secretary

Dame Antonia Romeo DCB

Biography

Dame Antonia Romeo was appointed as the Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service on 19 February 2026.

Antonia Romeo served as the Permanent Secretary of the Home Office from April 2025 to February 2026, with responsibility for national security, border security and public safety.

Before this Antonia was Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Justice for 4 years, with responsibility for criminal justice, prison and probation services, courts, legal services, and constitutional policy. Before that she was Permanent Secretary of the Department for International Trade with responsibility for trade policy, trade negotiations and market access, trade promotion and finance, inward and outward business investment, and the GREAT campaign.

Antonia joined the Civil Service in 2000 as a professional economist following an early career in the private sector at strategic consultancy firm Oliver Wyman.

She has held several senior roles in government, including:

  • Her Majesty’s Consul General in New York and Director General Economic and Commercial Affairs USA, and Special Envoy to the US technology companies, based in New York
  • Director General and Head of the Economic and Domestic Secretariat in the Cabinet Office, responsible for co-ordinating policy advice to the Prime Minister and the Cabinet, and delivery of the Prime Minister’s top priorities
  • Director General, Criminal Justice at the Ministry of Justice (MOJ), responsible for all criminal justice policy and major programmes
  • Director General, Transformation at MOJ, responsible for reform and savings programmes, strategy, digital services, communications, group HR and group estates
  • Executive Director, Enterprise and Reform at Cabinet Office, responsible for reforming the government’s governance and board model, working with businesses

Antonia sits on the Civil Service Board and is Chair of the Senior Leadership Committee.

Antonia holds an MA (PPE) from Oxford University, an MSc (Economics) from the London School of Economics, and an Advanced Management Programme diploma from Columbia Business School.

Head of the Civil Service

The Head of the Civil Service leads nearly half a million public servants who work in public institutions, administer tax, benefits and pensions systems and put government policy into practice. The civil service is a permanent, politically impartial workforce that serves the government of the day, while retaining the flexibility to serve future governments.

Currently civil servants are supporting the government’s economic and public service reform. The scale of the challenges and persistent weaknesses require a reform plan that applies right across the civil service. The Head of the Civil Service is one of several senior civil servants accountable for the reform of the civil service through the Civil Service Board.

Cabinet Office

Cabinet Secretary

The Cabinet Secretary is the Prime Minister’s most senior policy adviser and acts as Secretary to the Cabinet, responsible to all ministers for the running of Cabinet Government.

Cabinet Office, Civil Service, Civil Service Reform, and Civil Service Board

Previous roles in government

  • Permanent Secretary
    • 2025 to 2026
  • Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Justice
    • 2021 to 2025
  • Permanent Secretary, DIT
    • 2017 to 2021
  • Director-General Economic and Commercial Affairs USA
    • 2016 to 2017
  • British Consul General to New York
    • 2016 to 2017
  • Director General, Economic and Domestic Secretariat
    • 2015 to 2015
  • Government's Special Envoy to the U.S. technology companies
    • 2015 to 2016
  • Director General, Criminal Justice
    • 2011 to 2015