Antonia Romeo

Antonia Romeo (born 20 October 1974) is a British civil servant.[1] She is currently serving as the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Justice and Clerk of the Crown in Chancery.[2] She was recently the Permanent Secretary at the Department for International Trade and before that, the British Consul-General in New York for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and concurrently Director-General for Economic and Commercial Affairs in the USA.

Antonia Romeo
Clerk of the Crown in Chancery
Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Justice
Assumed office
18 January 2021
Prime MinisterBoris Johnson
MinisterRobert Buckland
Preceded bySir Richard Heaton
Permanent Secretary for the Department for International Trade
In office
March 2017  18 February 2021
Prime MinisterTheresa May
Boris Johnson
MinisterLiam Fox
Liz Truss
Preceded byMartin Donnelly
Succeeded byJohn Atly (acting)
Director-General, Economic and Domestic Secretariat, Cabinet Office
In office
February 2015  October 2015
Prime MinisterDavid Cameron
Minister
AmbassadorSir Kim Darroch
Preceded byMelanie Dawes
Succeeded byJonathan Slater
Her Majesty's Consul-General in New York
In office
July 2016  2017
Prime MinisterDavid Cameron
Theresa May
Preceded byDanny Lopez
Succeeded byAntony Phillipson
Personal details
Born
Antonia Rice-Evans

(1974-10-20)20 October 1974
EducationBrasenose College, Oxford (MA)
Columbia University (MPA)

Early life

Romeo was educated at North London Collegiate School and then Westminster School.[3][4] From there she went to Brasenose College, Oxford, from where she has an MA in Philosophy, Politics and Economics. She also holds an MSc (Economics) from the London School of Economics, and an Advanced Management Programme diploma from Columbia Business School.[5]

Career

From Oxford, Romeo joined Oliver Wyman in 1996, where she worked for three years.[6] Romeo then took an MSc in Economics from the London School of Economics, and in 2000 joined Civil Service into the Lord Chancellor's Department as a professional economist. In 2004, Romeo became the head of the information rights division within the new Department for Constitutional Affairs, in charge of freedom of information and related government policies.[1]

In 2006, Romeo became Principal Private Secretary to the Lord Chancellor — initially The Lord Falconer, then from 2007 Jack Straw. In 2008, Romeo transferred to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office as the Director of Whitehall Liaison Department, responsible with the FCO's relations with intelligence agencies and other government departments.[1][6]

Following the 2010 United Kingdom general election and the subsequent formation of the Cameron–Clegg coalition, Romeo transferred to the Cabinet Office as the Executive Director in the new Efficiency and Reform Group responsible for Government Reform, under Francis Maude. After 18 months, Romeo moved back to her original department, now called the Ministry of Justice, as Director-General for Transforming Justice. Two years later, in 2013, Romeo took over from Helen Edwards, combining her brief of "Justice Policy" and as Director-General for Criminal Justice.[7] After a further two years, she left in 2015, and was succeeded by Indra Morris.[8]

In 2015, Romeo served as the British government's "Special Envoy to the U.S. technology companies", and then as Director-General of the Economic and Domestic Secretariat in the Cabinet Office, replacing Melanie Dawes.[6][9][10] After eight months, Romeo moved to New York. Romeo then undertook the Advanced Management Programme at Columbia University.

In July 2016, Romeo was appointed Her Majesty's Consul General in New York, replacing Danny Lopez. The role combined consular work with business work under the auspices of UK Trade & Investment.[11] She appointed as Permanent Secretary of the Department for International Trade in January 2017, taking up the post in March.[12]

Romeo was appointed as Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Justice in January 2021.[13]

Controversies

While serving as Consul General in New York, Romeo offered assistance to controversial company Cambridge Analytica in landing more clients in the U.S. Romeo and trade officers working on her team discussed having Cambridge Analytica feature in a campaign to promote British technology companies, called "#dataisGREAT". The company was found to have appropriated data from Facebook users without permission, resulting in public outcry and congressional review. The company later closed.[14]

References

  1. "ROMEO, Antonia". Who's Who. A & C Black. 2015. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
  2. "Warrants Under the Royal Sign Manual". The London Gazette. HM Government. 22 January 2021. Retrieved 31 January 2021. The Queen has been pleased by Royal Warrant under Her Royal Sign Manual dated 18th January 2021 to appoint Antonia Romeo to the Office of Clerk of the Crown in Chancery.
  3. "Old North Londoners — ONL Profiles: Antonia Romeo". North London Collegiate School. Retrieved 13 June 2018.
  4. "Overseas OWW". Westminster School (OWW Online). Archived from the original on 13 June 2018. Retrieved 13 June 2018.
  5. Biography, retrieved 4 January 2021, https://www.gov.uk/government/people/antonia-romeo
  6. "Antonia Romeo named Her Majesty's Consul General in New York". www.consultancy.uk. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
  7. "Inspirational Woman: Antonia Romeo | Director General Criminal Justice". WeAreTheCity. 18 November 2014. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
  8. Ministry of Justice (10 June 2015). "Ministry of Justice Annual Report and Accounts 2014–15" (PDF). gov.uk. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
  9. "Antonia Romeo on David Cameron's new Implementation Taskforces and getting delivery right | Civil Service World". www.civilserviceworld.com. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
  10. "Antonia Romeo – GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
  11. "Change of Her Majesty's Consul General in New York". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
  12. "New Permanent Secretary for the Department for International Trade" (Press release). GOV.UK. 10 January 2017. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
  13. "Appointment of Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Justice" (Press release). GOV.UK. 4 January 2021. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
  14. Stefano, Alex Spence, Mark Di. "Cambridge Analytica Wanted To Crack Trump's Washington. "Our Job Is To Help You," A Top British Official Told Them". BuzzFeed. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
Government offices
New title Director-General,
Transforming Justice
Ministry of Justice

2011–2013
Succeeded by
Herself
as Director-General,
Criminal Justice
Preceded by
Helen Edwards
as Director-General,
Justice Policy
Director-General,
Criminal Justice
Ministry of Justice

2013–2015
Succeeded by
Indra Morris
Preceded by
Herself
as Director-General,
Transforming Justice
Preceded by
Melanie Dawes
Director-General,
Economic and Domestic Secretariat,
Cabinet Office

2015
Succeeded by
Jonathan Slater
Preceded by
Martin Donnelly
Permanent Secretary for the Department for International Trade
2017–2021
Succeeded by
John Atly (interim)
Preceded by
Richard Heaton
Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Justice
2021–
Incumbent
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by
Danny Lopez
as HM Consul-General NYC
and Director-General, USA
Her Majesty's Consul-General in New York,
Foreign & Commonwealth Office

2016–2017
Succeeded by
Antony Phillipson
Director-General,
Economic and Commercial Affairs USA,
UK Trade & Investment

2016–2017
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