Kwarteng set to appoint outside candidate as Treasury chief civil servant - reports

Antonia Romeo 'a clear preference'

Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng is set to appoint Antonia Romeo, permanent secretary at the Ministry of Justice, an outside candidate, to replace Tom Scholar as the Treasury’s chief civil servant.

Government sources told the Financial Times that she had emerged as Kwarteng's "clear preference" to lead the finance ministry, although the final decision is subject to Prime Minister Liz Truss and cabinet secretary Simon Case. If appointed, she would be the first woman to hold the post.  Romeo would be a departure from the Treasury's past. All of her competitors for the top position have worked for the department, whose "orthodoxy" was criticised by Truss during the Tory leadership race. Kwasi Kwarteng ousts the Treasury's most senior civil servant Tom Scholar, the long-standing ...