Boris Johnson poised to make former Daily Mail editor of chair media regulator

Boris Johnson is poised to make a former Daily Mail editor the chair of a media regulator, it has been reported.

According to Whitehall and media sources revealed in the Guardian, Paul Dacre is understood to be very close to being offered the influential role of chair of Ofcom.

The controversial appointment to head up the body that oversees the statutory regulation of British TV and telecommunications, which would include a remit to target the BBC, is expected to be announced soon. It has also been mooted that the UK Prime Minister will later reward Dacre with a peerage.

Alun Davies, a Labour Member of the Senedd for Blaenau Gwent, said: “The UK really is beginning to look like a failed state. And the blame for much of this lies at the door of the media in the UK. The structure of ownership and the failure of regulation.”

The 72-year-old journalist is still editor in chief of Daily Mail Group, which publishes the right-wing daily newspaper, the Mail on Sunday, the London free title Metro and the MailOnline website.

One leading figure in British TV management told The Guardian: “This is an appalling idea. A key role for Ofcom in the coming months will be focusing on improving the nation’s broadband, which is vital not just for business but for social inclusion. Dacre knows nothing about any of that.”