The government has chosen Michael Grade as its preferred candidate for the overseeing of media regulatory body Ofcom, ending what the Guardian has called ‘one of the more controversial and drawn-out government recruitment processes in recent British political history.’
Michael Grade – or rather, Baron Grade of Yarmouth – has previously held executive positions at the BBC, ITV and Channel 4. He has been publicly critical of these institutions for their political coverage, going so far as to describe the BBC licence fee as a ‘regressive tax.’
The process by which Grade was chosen has been described as ‘chaotic’, having taken over two years for the government to come to a decision after the previous chair, Terry Burns, chose to step down early in 2020.
At first, the expected choice was former Daily Mail editor-in-chief Paul Dacre – something that the Guardian has criticised as ‘part of a range of appointments designed to put government-friendly figures in positions of cultural power […] includ[ing] a failed attempt to appoint [Boris] Johnson’s former Daily Telegraph boss Charles Moore as chair of the BBC.’
It was initially decided that Dacre’s ‘strident’ views made him unsuitable for the role. Yet, as the Guardian reported, the government ‘decided to restart the entire hiring process to give Dacre another chance.’ Despite the fact that Dacre seemed set to be offered the role, at the last minute he withdrew, leaving the it wide open for Grade.
‘Another party insider’
This position, involving just three days of work per week, comes with a salary of £142,500, and constitutes overseeing a broad range of content, from traditional media like television and radio as well as recently taking on regulating social media platforms such as TikTok and Facebook – a significant power expansion.
The choice of Grade has faced stern opposition from other major political parties in the UK. Culture spokesperson for the Labour Party, Chris Elmore, tore into the decision to appoint Grade; ‘[Grade is] a Conservative peer who is completely out of touch with the British public and referred to the BBC’s coverage of the Downing Street parties as “gleeful and disrespectful”.’
Elmore continued, arguing: ‘With Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine showing the importance of robust, independent journalism and Ofcom poised to be handed more power to govern online platforms, the UK’s reputation as a world-leading regulator is being put at risk by the government appointing another party insider.’
Jamie Stone, the Liberal Democrats’ culture spokesman, added: ‘In the midst of the Ukraine crisis and the past years of pandemic, the chair of Ofcom should be a strong independent voice defending the integrity of our iconic public broadcasters – not a card-carrying Conservative.’
Green Party MP Caroline Lucas took to Twitter to criticise the decision, stating that Nadine Dorries ‘has picked anti-BBC, pro-C4 [sic] privatisation Tory Peer Michael Grade to chair Ofcom – a regulator that needs a reputation for treating all comers even-handedly.
‘[This is] yet another example of the government undermining our institutions.’