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Sir Keir Starmer has been accused of “scapegoating” cabinet secretary Sir Chris Wormald by a union boss who branded the saga a “new low” for the Labour Government. The veteran official’s forced departure on Thursday is widely seen as an attempt to shield the Prime Minister from the escalating Peter Mandelson scandal.

The exit, announced as a “mutual decision,” follows months of anonymous Whitehall briefings accusing the mandarin of underperformance. He held the post for just 14 months—the shortest tenure in modern history—having been appointed by Sir Keir in December 2024.

FDA general secretary Dave Penman, whose union represents senior civil servants, said: “Days of open speculation followed by an inevitable departure. What message does this send to the rest of the civil service on how they can be expected to be treated?”

He argued the episode sent a chilling message across Whitehall, adding: “A government that only last month said it wants civil servants to take risks and that ministers will have their back has just undermined that message in spectacular fashion.”

Mr Penman accused Downing Street of deploying “vague and unsubstantiated” briefings “straight out of Dominic Cummings’ playbook” to “scapegoat” Sir Chris and protect the Prime Minister. The attacks began last July, only seven months after his appointment, with leaks suggesting Sir Keir had “buyer’s remorse.”

Sir Chris’s exit is the third senior departure in a week, following chief of staff Morgan McSweeney and communications director Tim Allan. It comes amid intense scrutiny of Sir Keir’s decision to appoint Lord Mandelson as US Ambassador, a role the peer was sacked from following revelations about his ties to Jeffrey Epstein. As cabinet secretary, Sir Chris was overseeing the disclosure of files relating to the vetting process for that appointment.

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Speaking in the Commons last week, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said: “Sir Chris has been thrown under the bus in order to save the Prime Minister’s own skin.” She added: “If another country was paying off a senior official in the middle of a scandal involving the Prime Minister, Keir Starmer would be calling it corruption.”

Sir Chris reportedly received a £260,000 payoff, which required Sir Keir’s personal approval via a ministerial direction as it breached standard value-for-money rules.

Former cabinet secretary Lord Gus O’Donnell described the pattern of anonymous briefings as “one of this Government’s biggest failings” and urged Sir Keir to “get a grip” on his special advisers.

He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “Where it’s shabby is the fact that they’ve been briefing anonymously against the cabinet secretary saying it’s not working.”

Three permanent secretaries—Dame Antonia Romeo, Cat Little, and James Bowler—will share the role temporarily. Dame Antonia is the frontrunner for the permanent job despite past controversy.

Former Foreign Office permanent secretary Lord Simon McDonald has warned against rushing her appointment.

A government source dismissed the criticism, calling Romeo “a disrupter” and Lord McDonald “a senior male official whose time has passed.”

Sir Keir thanked Sir Chris for “his long and distinguished career” but gave no explanation for the abrupt exit.