Recruitment for Ofcom Chair ‘would put a reality TV series to shame’ says Tory MP
Tory MP Julian Knight has called the recruitment process for the next Chair of Ofcom a “shambles”, as the process lingers on following Paul Dacre’s withdrawal from the running.
Knight, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee Chair, said in a statement: “The search for the next goes on in a recruitment process that would put a reality TV series to shame.”
His comments come as former Daily Mail editor and vocal BBC critic Dacre was reportedly Boris Johnson’s preferred choice during the initial interviews.
He eventually pulled out of the process after allegations that it was “rigged” in his favour, which DCMS have consistently denied.
Knight urged the Culture Secretary in September to rule out candidates previously deemed to be ‘unappointable’ from applying again for the post of Chair of Ofcom.
“In an unexpected twist to the plot, would-be candidates have been given an extra seven days to apply. Not content with the outcome of the initial round of interviews, the DCMS Department restarted the appointments process using specially employed headhunters to get a better field of candidates, only to see a favourite walk away”, Knight said.
“Now, that better field of candidates is not enough. The word shambles has begun to look like an understatement”, he continued
“Hopefully in the case of the Ofcom Chair, we’ll see DCMS officials making the sort of employment checks on the successful candidate that anyone would expect to avoid any potential for later embarrassment.”
Just this week, Ofcom announced that media heavyweight Dawn Airey would be taking the position as the interim Chair whilst a new permanent candidate is selected.
The Government reopened the recruitment process to applications for Chair of Ofcom on January 26. The closing date for applications is next Wednesday.