British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s newly appointed cabinet secretary, Dame Antonia Romeo, is facing mounting criticism following reports that she pushed civil servants to join a “gender non-conforming book club” and devote substantial work time to diversity initiatives.
The allegations date back to her tenure as head of the Department for International Trade (DIT) between 2017 and 2021. Documents cited by The Telegraph suggest one employee was instructed to spend up to 20% of their working hours on “inclusivity” goals. These reportedly included promoting non-binary identities, encouraging colleagues to display preferred pronouns in email signatures, celebrating “non-binary awareness week,” and recruiting non-binary staff.
Joining a “gender non-conforming book club”—where officials read novels centred on intersex and transgender themes—was allegedly written into performance targets that influenced career progression.
The DIT was created under former prime minister Theresa May after Brexit to secure trade deals and strengthen Britain’s global commercial ties. Former staff now claim the department became increasingly focused on improving its ranking with Stonewall, the powerful LGBT advocacy group that scores employers on diversity metrics.
Reform UK chairman Zia Yusuf branded Romeo the “Queen of Woke” and “the embodiment of all that’s wrong with the blob,” accusing her of pushing identity politics inside Whitehall.
The Cabinet Office denies she set individual performance targets, while Starmer has praised her leadership.
