Ex-Brexit negotiator and three Whitehall department chiefs on cabinet secretary shortlist

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A former chief UK negotiator for Brexit and three serving Whitehall department chiefs have made the shortlist to become the next cabinet secretary, with an announcement expected as soon as this week.

Sir Keir Starmer has already begun interviewing the final four candidates for the £200,000-a-year role, which involves advising the prime minister and the cabinet as well as overseeing the civil service.

Sir Olly Robbins, a former director-general of the civil service who was also the most senior official involved in Brexit talks between 2017-19, is the only external candidate, according to people familiar with the process.

He currently heads up the Europe, Middle East and Africa division at global strategic advisory firm Hakluyt, after a stint at Goldman Sachs following two decades on Whitehall.

The internal candidates are Dame Antonia Romeo, permanent secretary at the Ministry of Justice; Tamara Finkelstein, permanent secretary at the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs; and Sir Chris Wormald, permanent secretary at the Department of Health and Social Care.

Starmer is seeking a new cabinet secretary to replace Simon Case, who announced in September that he was stepping down at the end of the year as he receives treatment for an undisclosed “neurological condition”.

This is a developing story