Paid more than the PM, it was a miracle he was still in his job

MOST people would have never heard of Sir Philip Rutnam, 54, before his highly unusual resignation yesterday morning.

Critics of Boris Johnson’s Government and his sweeping reforms to the troubled immigration system will have a new hero following the incendiary walkout, but they will be choosing an unlikely champion in the man paid more than the Prime Minister, yet lucky not to have been axed on numerous occasions.

For those who have kept a keen eye on Whitehall over the past decade, the name Rutnam is a byword for bungled advice and toxic clashes with Ministers.

Dubbed ‘Sir Calamity’ by exasperated Downing Street officials, Rutnam – who was paid £175,000 with a gold-plated pension as Home Office Permanent Secretary – always seemed to be ‘missing’ when his neck was on the line. In the rare times he has been under pressure, in a classic mandarin style he had always been able to brazen his involvement out, often leaving MPs gobsmacked by his excuses.

In the wake of the Windrush immigration scandal that ousted former Home Secretary Amber Rudd, Rutnam was hauled before the Commons to explain his role in the affair. ‘I’ve been in the department for a year – I’m not an expert on the immigration system,’ was his curt reply.

That 2018 appearance before the Home Affairs Select Committee has become something of parliamentary folklore after Rutnam twice scolded his political interrogators for not providing him with their questions before he appeared.

A former Home Office insider said Rutnam, whose Who’s Who entry says his hobby is ‘taking family up mountains’, had been ‘nowhere to be seen’ during the scandal and two more junior officials were moved on instead. They blasted: ‘Then, just like now, he oversaw a culture of

politicised leaks and egotistical briefing from the department and has managed to avoid taking any responsibility or face any consequence for the Windrush scandal, instead staying in the role he gets paid more than the Prime Minister for, and throwing his deputy and others under the bus.’

But after the Tories’ Election victory in December, Rutnam must have realised he was on thin ice. Senior figures in the Tory party had previously called for his head, including Johnson ally Shaun Bailey.

The candidate for London Mayor said Rutnam had to go to ‘restore confidence in the Home Office’.

Born in South London, Rutnam attended Dulwich College, the same school as Nigel Farage. His career path was that of a consummate mandarin. Public school, Cambridge and a spell at the Treasury.

He briefly worked in finance for Morgan Stanley before becoming a quangocrat and a senior official at the Business department.

Earlier in his career, he had been humble enough to admit when he was wrong. During the 2012 West Coast rail fiasco, he was forced to admit ‘deeply regrettable and completely unacceptable mistakes’, adding that ‘more important than the role of Ministers is the role of senior officials, starting with me’.

However, in true Whitehall fashion, such remarkable disasters did not stop him climbing the greasy pole.