A senior Canberra public servant is the frontrunner for the prestigious job of Britain's House of Commons Clerk.
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Department of Parliamentary Services secretary Carol Mills hasalready been interviewed once for the position and it has been reported that she is the preferred candidate of Commons speaker John Bercow.
Ms Mills declined to speak publicly on Tuesday about her big new job opportunity but public service sources confirmed that the Departmental Secretary was head-hunted for the role in the "mother of parliaments."
The current occupant of the $364,000-a-year-job, Sir Robert Rogers, will retire next month amid claims he was told to "f**k off" by Mr Bercow, a Conservative Member of Parliament .
Ms Mills - a former director general of Communities NSW and the Department of Arts, Sport and Recreation, joined DPS in mid-2012 is seen in the Australian Public Service as a safe pair of hands.
Since joining DPS she has largely stemmed the flow of bad news stories and bullying allegations that had previously dogged the newly minted department.
She is also one of tiny number of agency head to have secured extra funding in the Abbott Government's first budget with DPS getting $60 million over the next 4 years to "support its core operations".
According to the job spec from posh London headhunters Saxton Bampfylde, the successful candidate will lead a staff of 1750 and administer a budget of $367 million.
The job calls for "the ability to represent the House of Commons, at both national and international level" and "experience in policy decision-making at high levels and under pressure."
