Case study Top civil servant criticised in report

Simon Case is the highest ranking public official to be implicated in partygate.

Aged 43 and with a PHD in political history, the career civil servant’s roles have included director of strategy for GCHQ and principal private secretary to David Cameron and Theresa May.

He left government in 2018 to take up a role as private secretary to the Duke of Cambridge but was drafted back into Whitehall in April 2020.

His deployment to the Cabinet Office at the height of the first lockdown – which was initially intended as a temporary secondment from his royal duties – led to his rapid promotion in the civil service.

In June 2020, just three months after his return to government, he was promoted to permanent secretary to run No 10. And in September of the same year he was appointed to lead the Civil Service, becoming the youngest person to hold the role of Cabinet Secretary since 1916.

Mr Case read history at Cambridge and took a PHD at Queen Mary University of London where he wrote a thesis on the contribution that the Joint Intelligence Committee made to British policy on Germany during the early Cold War.

After his doctorate, he joined the Civil Service in 2006 and worked for GCHQ, becoming director of strategy. He took up roles in the Northern Ireland Office and Cabinet Office, where he directed the implementation group.

He worked as a private secretary in Downing Street, then led Whitehall’s preparation for Brexit. As director general for Northern Ireland and Ireland in the Department for Exiting the EU, he tried to solve the issue of the Northern Ireland border in Brexit discussions. His appointment as Prince William’s closest advisor in 2018 was seen as a signal of the Duke’s intentions for his work supporting the Queen and meeting world leaders.

Mr Case was brought back to the civil service in April 2020 as part of the drive to tackle Covid by deploying their best minds.

He led the Cabinet Office on ensuring that the “non-shielded vulnerable”, including food bank users and potential victims of domestic violence, were getting adequate support during the lockdown.