The knives are out, so just how long can Case hold on?

Fans of the cabinet secretary, Simon Case – and there still are some despite all the recent backstabbing – say that he is the ideal top civil servant because he possesss the invaluable gift of anticipating trouble and “he can see round corners”.

- SEAN O'GRADY

If so, then from what I’ve seen, he clearly didn’t make adequate preparations for the near-certain election of a Labour prime minister on 4 July, and the return to Whitehall of Sue Gray as Keir Starmer’s chief of staff.

Nor, for that matter, does Case seem to have been able to deal with the arrival of a cohort of political special advisers suspicious of a man who was, for a time, perceived very much as a creature of Boris Johnson – and who is now suspected of being in some way behind vicious briefings against Gray (personally) and the government (more generally).

It is no great surprise, and probably least of all to Case, that he is now facing his own wave of hostile gossip, including calls for him to exit Downing Street earlier than planned – probably next month, if not immediately.

To be fair to Case, he let it be known before the election that he intended to leave his post early in 2025, on health grounds, after spending some months on sick leave last year.

Having survived three Conservative premierships, he may also have concluded that even though he is still a young man (he’ll only be 46 in December), he might not prosper under a new administration – especially with Gray in such a senior position.

Apart from any other considerations, it seems as though there was simply too much bad blood between the pair. It cannot be entirely irrelevant that, a few years ago, Case blocked Gray’s appointment as permanent secretary at the Department of International Trade, a job that Gray yearned for, running her own department.