City veteran Ian Cheshire named as new chair of Ofcom

The government has named the City veteran Ian Cheshire as its preferred choice to chair the media regulator Ofcom.Cheshire will be formally appointed to the role for a four-year term once he has been approved in a parliamentary hearing.He was formerly the boss of the B&Q owner, Kingfisher, and served as the chair of Channel 4 until last year.The appointment made on Wednesday comes at a critical moment for Ofcom amid concern over the rapid growth of online content and the rise of more politically partisan broadcasting. The regulator oversees the Online Safety Act, the legislation that regulates all social media in the UK.Cheshire said in a statement that across his career in e-commerce, telecoms and broadcasting he had “seen first-hand how much effective regulation matters – for consumers, for businesses and for the wider economy”.He said: “Ofcom has a critical job to do at a time of rapid change in how people communicate, access information and stay safe online. I look forward to setting out my vision for how Ofcom can meet those challenges when I appear before the select committee.”The technology secretary, Liz Kendall, said Cheshire had a “proven track record of leading complex organisations through periods of significant change, and that is exactly the kind of leadership Ofcom needs right now”.Cheshire, who is the chair of the FTSE 100 property group Landsec and the private hospital operator Spire Healthcare, has been chosen over the Labour MP and life peer Margaret Hodge and the former Conservative cabinet minister Jeremy Wright.Cheshire, who has also served on the boards of Barclays and Debenhams, represents a relatively less political choice by the government. He has worked in top positions in the public sector, including as a non-executive director of the Cabinet Office.He is expected to succeed the former BBC chair Michael Grade, who will stand down from the role at the end of the month. The chair of the regulator is paid £120,000 a year for a time commitment of three days a week, Ofcom said.Cheshire’s appointment is subject to a parliamentary hearing by the science, innovation and technology committee, which is chaired by the former Ofcom staffer Chi Onwurah.Ofcom has come under fire over its implementation of some parts of the Online Safety Act, with Kendall telling it last year that she was “deeply concerned” about delays in rolling out the new rules.The laws are designed to force social media platforms to protect people, especially children, from posts and videos that incite hatred or encourage suicide, self-harm or eating disorders.Ofcom also oversees public service broadcasting and impartial news broadcasting, the universal postal service requirement and access to broadband and mobile phone coverage.