The chair of the DCMS committee has criticised the latest extension to the deadline for applications for the new chair of Ofcom.
Julian Knight MP said the recruitment process would “put a reality TV series to shame”.
The current campaign to recruit for the role began on 29 November 2021 following an unsuccessful bid by the prime minister’s preferred candidate, former Daily Mail editor Paul Dacre, to interview for the position. The latest deadline of Wednesday 26 January has been put back by a week to Wednesday 2 February.
“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,” said Knight. “Now, that better field of candidates is not enough. The word shambles has begun to look like an understatement.”
The Committee had previously questioned the lack of clarity around the need to re-run the process to appoint a new Chair of Ofcom with concern expressed at an unnecessary delay.
The DCMS Committee. a select committee of the House of Commons, scrutinises the spending, policies and administration of the government Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.
