Dacre ‘can have another go’ at Ofcom job
October 28, 2021
Paul Dacre will be offered another chance to become chair Ofcom, ministers have confirmed, according to The Guardian.
Ministers have wanted to appoint the former Daily Mail editor since the vacancy emerged. Having appointed a sympathetic selection panel Dacre was unexpectedly rejected as even this panel deemed him “not appointable” following interview.
This even though he was reportedly coached on what to say in the interview and how to meet the job description criteria. Rather than appoint one of the candidates who had been successfully vetted, ministers instead decided to rerun the hiring process to give Dacre another shot.
The attempt to force through their candidate is being pushed back – not least tby Conservative MPs. Julian Knight, Tory chair of the culture select committee said last month that the recruitment process was being restarted without adequate justification and that Dacre should be blocked from the job. “Where a previous candidate has been deemed to be un appointable for a post, they should be ruled out of reapplying.”
The final decision will be made by the culture secretary, Nadine Dorries, in consultation with Downing Street.