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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Business
Jim Waterson Media editor

Government picks Tory peer Michael Grade to chair Ofcom

Michael Grade
Michael Grade has called the BBC licence fee a ‘regressive tax’ and backed the privatisation of Channel 4. Photograph: Mark Thomas/Alamy

Michael Grade has been chosen as the government’s preferred candidate to oversee the media regulator, Ofcom, ending one of the more controversial and drawn-out government recruitment processes in recent British political history.

The Conservative peer – who has held senior executive positions at the BBC, ITV and Channel 4 – will have to face a pre-appointment hearing in front of MPs but is likely to be approved to take the job, finally drawing the process to a close.

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