Former cabinet secretary who got £860k payout after 14 months takes House of Lords seat

Sir Chris Wormald, the former head of the civil service, has officially taken his seat in the House of Lords.

The former Whitehall chief led the civil service for 14 months during Sir Keir Starmer’s premiership, having earlier served as head of both the Department for Health and Social Care and the Department for Education.

According to the Cabinet Office’s annual report and accounts released earlier this week, he was granted an £859,496 severance package when his tenure as Cabinet secretary ended.

Lord Wormald will sit on the red benches as an independent crossbench peer.

Attired in traditional scarlet robes, he completed a brief introduction ceremony on Thursday morning.

Making the solemn affirmation, he said: "I Christopher, Lord Wormald do solemnly, sincerely, and truly declare and affirm, that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to His Majesty King Charles, his heirs and successors, according to law."

Lord Wormald began his civil service career in 1991 through the fast stream recruitment scheme at what was then the Department of Education and Science.

His career also included postings within the Department for Communities and Local Government as well as the Cabinet Office.

In 2010, he became head of the deputy prime minister’s office when Nick Clegg served alongside Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton.

He returned to the Department for Education as permanent secretary in 2012, before taking over at the Department for Health and Social Care in 2016, where he served under seven health secretaries.

He was appointed to replace Lord Case as Cabinet secretary in December 2024.

At the time, Sir Keir, the prime minister, remarked that there was "no-one better placed" than Lord Wormald to assist him with a "complete re-wiring of the British state to deliver bold and ambitious long-term reform".

However, by late 2025, Downing Street insiders had described him as "a parody of every civil service stereotype", according to The Times, while The Guardian reported him being called "insipid".

Former Cabinet secretary Lord O’Donnell criticised the anonymous briefings against Lord Wormald as "shabby", warning they represented some of the "biggest failings" of Sir Keir’s two-year premiership.

Lord Wormald and Sir Keir reached a "mutual" decision for him to step down in February this year, with Dame Antonia Romeo named as his successor.

The senior mandarin’s payout of nearly £860,000 is believed to be a record figure, far exceeding the £457,000 handed to Sir Tom Scholar following his removal as Treasury chief by Liz Truss in 2022.

Lord Wormald was among six peers introduced to the House of Lords this week.

Sir Brian Leveson, the former judge who headed the 2010s inquiry into press ethics, took his place on the crossbenches on Monday as Lord Leveson of Liverpool.

The mayor of London formally joined the Labour benches on Tuesday as Lord Khan of Tooting.

The chamber also welcomed additional new Labour peers, Lord McTague on Monday and Lord Neri on Tuesday, as well as new Liberal Democrat peer Lord McCobb on Thursday.