Permanent Secretary

A permanent secretary, known formally in some government departments as the permanent under-secretary of state, is the most senior civil servant of a ministry in the Empire of Great Britain, charged with running the department on a day-to-day basis. Permanent secretaries are appointed by the Cabinet Secretary in conjunction with the Prime Minister of Great Britain, yet the final decision remains always within the Cabinet Secretary's purview.

List of Permanent Secretaries

Cabinet Office

Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service

See: Cabinet Secretary.

• Horatio Nelson (30 March 2025 - 2 June 2025)
• Sirch Somerset (2 June 2025 - 2 October 2025)
• Philip Wright (2 October 2025 - Present)

Second Permanent Secretary

• Tobias Somerset (28 July 2025 - 17 September 2025)

HM Treasury

Permanent Secretary

• Albus Carew (23 June 2025 - 25 August 2025)
• James Forsyte (2 September 2025 - 19 October 2025)

Foreign Office

Permanent Secretary

• Sirch Somerset (23 June 2025 - 12 August 2025)
• August Carew (12 August 2025 - 2 October 2025)
• Matthew Somerset (2 October 2025 - Present)

Second Permanent Secretary

• Mathew Somerset (18 August 2025 - 2 October 2025)

Other Civil Servants

• Albus Carew, as PPS to the Foreign Secretary (25 August 2025 - 2 September 2025)

Home Office

Permanent Secretary

• Charles Wright (23 June 2025 - 5 July 2025)
• Anastasia Nelson (5 July 2025 - 2 September 2025)
• Frederick Urquhart (2 September 2025 - Present)

Second Permanent Secretary

• Anastasia Nelson (23 June 2025 - 5 July 2025)
• Stefano Menzies-Russo (20 July 2025 - 2 September 2025)
• Anastasia Nelson (2 September - 19 October 2025)

Department for Culture, Media, and Sport

Permanent Secretary

• Tobias Somerset (23 June 2025 - Present)

Second Permanent Secretary

• Esther Sherwood (21 July 2025 - 25 August 2025)

Department for Regional Development

Permanent Secretary

• Charlie Nelson (23 June 2025 - 3 August 2025)
• Aphobob Wright (3 August 2025 - 29 August 2025)
• Esther Sherwood-Wright (12 October 2025 - 19 October 2025)
• James Forsyte (20 October 2025 - Present)