Keir Starmer would drop cabinet secretary Simon Case – Labour sources

British cabinet secretary and head of the civil service Simon Case at Downing Street, London. Photograph: Henry Nicholls/Reuters

Simon Case is unlikely to be kept on as cabinet secretary under Keir Starmer if Labour wins the next general election, senior party figures have said.

Case is understood to be considering his own future after a difficult year in the aftermath of the Partygate scandal and damaging leaked WhatsApps involving the former health secretary Matt Hancock.