Former cabinet secretary warns leadership uncertainty raises UK borrowing costs

Leadership uncertainty is enormously disruptive and presents a big challenge for the government, former cabinet secretary Simon Case has said.

Case, the UK's highest-ranking civil servant from 2020 to 2024, told the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg that political upheaval also costs money by driving up borrowing costs.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer is under pressure from cabinet ministers and a growing number of MPs to set out a plan for his departure and avoid the need for a leadership contest.

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander and Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper are both understood to have urged the prime minister to set out a timetable for leaving office.

Starmer has insisted he will fight any challenge and will not walk away from the job. He spent part of Friday calling other cabinet ministers to gauge the level of support he has among his top team.

Downing Street said on Sunday morning that the prime minister was getting on with the job and that his position of being determined to fight for his job had not changed.

Allies of former Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham have urged Starmer to reflect over the weekend and listen to his cabinet ministers, MPs and his family.

Burnham's team and that of another potential challenger, Health Secretary Wes Streeting, said they would not be giving interviews over the weekend, in an apparent bid to give Starmer time to change his mind.

Case served as the most senior government official under four prime ministers — Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, Rishi Sunak and Starmer — in quick succession during a period of uncertainty and upheaval at the top of UK politics.

He stepped down in December 2024 on health grounds and was made a peer the following year.

Case told the BBC that the uncertainty surrounding the prime minister's future was a big challenge and a big problem for government, adding that the markets were already responding to the possibility of a leadership challenge in the UK.

The amount of money the country is paying for its enormous level of debt is going up with every moment of uncertainty, he said.

While politicians are having conversations amongst themselves about who should be leader, time is lost to fix issues of real significance to people up and down the country in the health service and education, Case said.

Changes in leadership also mean important decisions are deferred, he said, pointing to the recent resignation of Defence Secretary John Healey.

Current decisions are not being taken that are desperately needed on how much money should be spent on defence, Case said.

Asked what his advice to Burnham would be if he were to become leader, Case said: Do as much preparation as you possibly can, surround yourself with the best people and, by God, do your homework.