Top civil servant sacked by Starmer received record £860,000 payout
Chris Wormald, pictured here in 2020, now sits in the House of Lords. Photograph: PA Images/AlamyView image in fullscreenChris Wormald, pictured here in 2020, now sits in the House of Lords. The shadow Cabinet Office minister Alex Burghart said: “Chris Wormald was just one of many civil servants and advisers fired by Keir Starmer as he tried to save his own skin.“This payout is another appalling waste of taxpayers’ money by Labour.
- ▪Chris Wormald, pictured here in 2020, now sits in the House of Lords.
- ▪Photograph: PA Images/AlamyView image in fullscreenChris Wormald, pictured here in 2020, now sits in the House of Lords.
- ▪The shadow Cabinet Office minister Alex Burghart said: “Chris Wormald was just one of many civil servants and advisers fired by Keir Starmer as he tried to save his own skin.“This payout is another appalling waste of taxpayers’ money by Lab
2 outlets in our directory ran this story. All of the coverage we found sits in one bucket: centre. That one-sidedness is itself worth noticing.
- ▪ Former top civil servant received near-£860,000 pay-off — BBC News — Politics
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| Original publisher | The Guardian — Politics |
| Canonical URL | https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/sep/14/civil-service-chief-record-860000-payout-sacked-starmer |
| Publication time | Mon, 14 Sep 2026 16:09:15 GMT |
| Retrieval time | 2026-09-14T16:16:51.284Z |
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Chris Wormald, pictured here in 2020, now sits in the House of Lords. Photograph: PA Images/AlamyView image in fullscreenChris Wormald, pictured here in 2020, now sits in the House of Lords. Photograph: PA Images/AlamyCivil serviceTop civil servant sacked by Starmer received record £860,000 payoutSpecial approval needed for amount that surpassed what Chris Wormald was ‘contractually entitled to’Jessica Elgot Deputy political editorMon 14 Sep 2026 12.09 EDTLast modified on Mon 14 Sep 2026 12.10 EDTSharePrefer the Guardian on GoogleThe former head of the civil service Chris Wormald received a record payout of almost £860,000 when he was forced out of the top job in Whitehall by Keir Starmer.Cabinet Office accounts have revealed that the former cabinet secretary, who was sacked earlier this…
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