Dacre quits battle to become Ofcom chief

Former Daily Mail editor accuses Whitehall ‘Blob’ of blocking conservatives from senior public roles

‘If you have an independent mind you will have more chance of winning the lottery than getting the job’

THE former Daily Mail editor Paul Dacre has pulled out of the running to become chairman of Ofcom, complaining that without liberal or Left-wing associations he would “have more chance of winning the lottery than getting the job”.

The 73-year-old launched a stinging attack on “the Blob” of senior civil servants, who he claimed were determined to block figures with his convictions from taking high-profile public sector roles.

Despite being urged to apply to oversee the media regulator “by many senior members of the government”, Mr Dacre said that after an “infelicitous dalliance with the Blob” he will instead take up an “exciting new job in the private sector”.

In a letter to The Times, he wrote: “To anyone from the private sector, who, God forbid, has convictions, and is thinking of applying for a public appointment, I say the following: ‘The civil service will control (and leak) everything; the process could take a year in which your life will be put on hold; and if you are possessed of an independent mind and are unassociated with the liberal/left, you will have more chance of winning the lottery than getting the job.’”

He rejected suggestions by political opponents that as Ofcom chairman he would have sought to undermine the BBC. Instead he would “die in a ditch to defend” an organisation that needs to be “saved from both itself and the frighteningly well-resourced streaming giants”.

Mr Dacre was first linked with the £142,500-a-year position last summer and was Boris Johnson’s preferred candidate. He was viewed as a frontrunner when the Government opted to relaunch the process earlier this year, after the previous selection panel judged him unappointable to the role.

Attempts to install Mr Dacre drew a cross-party backlash, however. Julian Knight, the Conservative culture committee chairman, recently called for ministers to rule out candidates previously deemed unsuitable.

The battle has been waged at a critical time for Ofcom as it prepares to take on responsibility for regulating tech giants, under the Online Harms Bill working its way through Parliament.

Mr Dacre has been a longstanding critic of Google and Facebook.

In his letter, Mr Dacre questioned whether the chief executive of Ofcom, the former senior civil servant Dame Melanie Dawes, was up to the job. She was appointed after a No10 effort to attract private sector candidates for the position was abandoned. Mr Dacre said: “I wish Ofcom all the luck in the world as it faces the awesome challenge of trying to regulate the omnipotent, ruthless and, as we’ve learnt, amoral tech giants without damaging freedom of expression – a freedom I spent 28 years as an editor fighting for both publicly and privately with ministers.”

“Whether Ofcom, whose chief executive is a brilliant career civil servant, latterly at the Ministry of Housing, has the wherewithal to deal with such issues, is a different kettle of fish.”

Mr Dacre this month left his position as chairman and editor-in-chief of the Daily Mail’s publisher, Associated Newspapers. It brought to a close his 42 years with the business, where he spent more than quarter of a century as editor of the mid-market title until June 2018.

His move upstairs from the newsroom did not end his public battles, however. In 2019 he sent a letter to the Financial Times that accused his successor Geordie Greig of being “economic with the actualite” in an interview.

Mr Greig was ousted as editor of the

on Wednesday as Lord Rothermere, the chairman and controlling shareholder, looks to push through his £850m bid to take the newspaper’s owner DMGT private.

The plans have been cast into further doubt, however, after a significant shareholder in the company joined others in opposing the £850m buyout.

Lord Rothermere, chairman of DMGT and its controlling shareholder with a 36pc stake, is offering 255p in cash plus debt for each share.

JO Hambro Capital Management, which owns a 3.3pc stake in the company and advises on a further 2.6pc of shares, said it was “not currently minded to accept the offer” as it undervalues the publisher.

J O Hambro comes as the latest shareholder to warn over the deal, with Majedie last week saying it was “substantially below” a fair valuation.

Shareholders have until the middle of next month to decide on whether to accept the offer.

DMGT and Rothermere Continuation Limited (RCL) both declined to comment.