Keir Starmer has ousted his Cabinet Secretary Sir Chris Wormald.

Keir Starmer has ousted Sir Chris Wormald, who has worked within the civil service for 35 years (Image: Getty)

GB News presenters Mark White and Anne Diamond were left furious after revealing the payout Sir Chris Wormald received for leaving the civil service. It’s been a disastrous few weeks for Keir Starmer, following the exits of his Chief of Staff Morgan McSweeney and Head of Communications Tim Allan, both coming during the Lord Peter Mandelson scandal.

On Thursday (February 13), it was announced that Wormald, the UK’s top civil servant, has quit amid Starmer’s shake-up of No10. It was claimed his exit was “by mutual agreement” but senior officials say that he was pushed out. Because he has been removed for “no good reason”, Diamond revealed he is getting a “golden handshake”, which amounts to a staggering £260,000.

Ensure our latest showbiz headlines always appear at the top of your Google Search by making us a Preferred Source. Click here to activate or add us as Preferred Source in your Google search settings.

White said: “That’s because the civil service management structure say that he’s been gotten rid of without good reason so he requires a payoff. Your tax pounds, 260 thousand of them, are going to him.”

The duo were joined by political commentator Theo Usherwood, who acknowledged that it would be “very easy to blame the civil service” for the huge payout, but was quick to highlight Starmer’s role.

He told the presenters: “Civil servants have had to ask for what’s known as a ministerial direction, which is where the decision is so big and out of step, that they have to go to the prime minister and say you’re going to need a ministerial override to make this happen.

“The prime minister has signed it off because this is a man he appointed just over a year ago to drive forward his policy agenda and now he’s one of those carrying the can for the failure to deliver and Keir Starmer wants to get rid of him, so he’s had to step in.”

The presenters were furious over the update (Image: GB News)

White fumed: “It’s outrageous! He cannot work with this man so in order to get rid, he’s going to give £260,000 to a top civil servant in order to do that and now take a bunch of other people in who we don’t know if they’re going to do any better with the policy agenda that Sir Keir Starmer has.”

Announcing his departure, Sir Chris said: “It has been an honour and a privilege to serve as a civil servant for the past 35 years, and a particular distinction to lead the Service as Cabinet Secretary.

“I want to place on record my sincere thanks to the extraordinary civil servants, public servants, ministers, and advisers I have worked with. Our country is fortunate to have such dedicated individuals devoted to public service, and I wish them every success for the future.”