Channel 4 privatisation plan could be dropped by next prime minister

Channel 4 is owned by the state but run on a commercial basis. Photograph: Sam Barnes/Alamy

Channel 4’s privatisation could be dropped by the next prime minister, with plans to sell the channel unlikely to be published before September.

Boris Johnson had already signed off on proposals to sell the publicly owned broadcaster, and the culture secretary, Nadine Dorries, had been preparing to push the law authorising the change through parliament in the autumn.