When Dominic Raab arrived as deputy prime minister to head the Ministry of Justice in September last year, he found that the best office in the building was already taken.
Antonia Romeo, the permanent secretary, occupied a space with one of the most stunning views in Whitehall, a sweeping panorama across parliament and the London Eye.
Raab, whose time in office ended last month with the election of Liz Truss, is said to have been jealous but Romeo, who is due to be confirmed imminently as permanent secretary at the Treasury, is not one to be overshadowed, even by the ministers to whom she reports.
For one thing, none of Romeo’s predecessors in the Treasury job had posed for fashion photoshoots wearing Stella McCartney or