Philip Rycroft: The man now in a 'pivotal' Brexit role

Philip Rycroft has been promoted to the role of permanent secretary

Pressure from Scottish and Welsh governments, and the upheaval in Whitehall, have put a former Scottish government official into a vital role in brokering deals.

Philip Rycroft has been promoted to the role of permanent secretary in the Department for Exiting the European Union.

This follows the departure of his predecessor in that role, Oliver Robbins, for a role which takes him away from David Davis and closer to the prime minister.

The Whitehall manoeuvres have been described as more evidence of "chaos" in the UK government's approach to the Brexit negotiations.

But they place Mr Rycroft in a pivotal position, running the department that has to do much of the preparation for leaving the EU, and backing up the key UK players in negotiation.

Referendum response

If the governments at Holyrood and Cardiff Bay are to succeed in getting European powers devolved beyond Westminster, he is in the key position to influence that process.

Mr Rycroft already had the role of running the "UK Governance Group" - set up to ensure that Whitehall's policy and negotiating machines take account of the differences devolution can make - for Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the English regions.

Before and after the Scottish independence referendum, he was co-ordinating Whitehall's response, and is understood to have been influential with the Smith Commission, through which new powers were granted to Holyrood.

This role drew on his experience working in the Scottish Office before devolution and as the first official to head the first minister's policy unit when Donald Dewar was elected to that office in 1999.

Private sector

Mr Rycroft, who was raised and educated in England, later became head of the Scottish government's schools division, leading the enterprise, transport and lifelong learning department, and was then promoted to director general of the education department in St Andrew's House.

He had previously worked in Brussels with Nick Clegg, and when the Liberal Democrat later became deputy prime minister, he recruited Rycroft to be director general of his department.

The civil servant twice left officialdom for spells in the private sector, including two years at Scottish & Newcastle brewers.

Colleagues describe him as very smart, very good with people, and unusually good at being able to see both sides of constitutional issues.

"He's collaborative," said one Edinburgh official. "We can have a real conversation with him, he'll represent his minister, but he'll see other points of view."