Mark Lyall Grant, the Prime Minister’s national security adviser, is leaving. As I report in The Sun today, the 60 year-old Lyall Grant is to retire later this year.
The hot favourite to replace Lyall Grant is Mark Sedwill, the permanent secretary at the Home Office. Theresa May knows Sedwill well from her time as Home Secretary, they worked together for three years. Having him in Downing Street will mean that she has foreign policy advice from an official with whom she has developed a strong working relationship with. ‘She likes people we know and trust’, says one senior figure involved in discussions about the move.
Sedwill, a former Foreign Office man, is well qualified for the job. He also knows Donald Trump’s national security adviser General Mike Flynn from his time in Afghanistan which will help as the May team try to build relations with the incoming US administration.
Downing Street sources stress that Lyall Grant is simply retiring. But his departure will spark renewed chatter in Whitehall about the relationship between the May team and senior officials.
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