The government has named Sir Ian Cheshire as its preferred candidate for Ofcom Chair, subject to a parliamentary hearing before the final appointment is confirmed. Cheshire was previously chair of Channel 4 and Chief Executive at Kingfisher plc, and held other roles as Chair of Barclays UK. He brings strong governance experience to the table, which spans both the public and private sectors.
“The work of Ofcom has never been more relevant to people’s lives, from protecting people online to supporting the growth of our communications sector. The organisation sits at the heart of some of the biggest challenges and opportunities facing the country.
Sir Ian has a proven track record of leading complex organisations through periods of significant change, and that is exactly the kind of leadership Ofcom needs right now.”
Liz Kendall, Technology Secretary
The appointment comes after two other names were suggested as perhaps being a stronger option for the job from the shortlist put forward, which included former Labour MP and peer Margaret Hodge alongside Conservative MP Jeremy Wright.
Wright had been considered an ideal candidate as he was involved in the drafting of laws to tackle harmful online content, and would help with building cross-party support for Ofcom’s work. He had previously run the Department of Culture, Media and Sport. Hodge had been a Labour favourite, but familial ties to Sir Keir Starmer may have been a factor in her not being chosen. As chair of the public accounts committee, she has good experience with handling big tech companies over tax bills, and Ofcom requires strong leadership in its online safety remit. Sir Ian Cheshire is not known to have any experience in this regard.
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Perhaps they could choose a candidate who is known to have strongly resisted censorship of opinions and material that the government doesn’t like.
Oh, is that not Ofcom’s job?
Ofcom is there to implement government policy/regulation, rather than define it (although I guess they do a bit).
If policy is to strongly regulate content, then you’d expect Ofcom to do that, and appointing an anti-censorship head to an organisation tasked with censoring would probably just be ineffective.
I do think big tech has got away with a lot of things and needs regulating. I would just prefer regulation to be effective rather than on paper.
If it were even-handed I might agree, but it’s not is it?