The Stage

Johnson to restart ACE, London chair appointment

Published Tuesday 27 October 2009 at 12:33 by Lalayn Baluch

Boris Johnson has announced he will restart the recruitment process for the London chair of Arts Council England.

The news comes just weeks after culture secretary Ben Bradshaw blocked the appointment of former Evening Standard editor Veronica Wadley, a close ally of Johnson, to the role.

Bradshaw accused the London mayor of breaching the Nolan principles – which prevent political interference in the public appointment process.

Now, Johnson has written to Bradshaw defending Wadley as his choice for the position, and has accused the culture secretary of vetoing the appointment for political reasons.

He wrote: “This was a bad decision and flies in the face of the mayor’s government sanctioned responsibility to nominate the London chair at the arts council.

“Without a doubt Veronica Wadley was the best person for the job – her support for the arts and pivotal role at the helm of a major newspaper mean she is highly qualified to help steer the arts in London through these difficult times.”

While the recruitment process is underway, the mayor’s arts chief Munira Mirza will work with the arts council to select an interim chair from the body’s existing members.

A DCMS spokesperson responded: “Ben Bradshaw rejected the mayor’s favoured candidate because the process had not followed Nolan principles. We expect the new process to follow them.

“Keeping this important post unfilled risks damaging the arts in London. The mayor is subject to a legal requirement to fill it as soon as possible and should do so.”

ACE chair Liz Forgan – a member of the shortlisting panel for the appointment who described Wadley as under-qualified for the job – called on the mayor to reconsider the other candidates shortlisted for the role.

She said: “It is good that the Mayor has recognised his duty to nominate a candidate for the position of chair of Arts Council England, London as soon as possible.

“The published process states that the competition should be re-run only in exceptional circumstances, and so we feel that the mayor should first consider the three strong candidates previously put forward by the panel.”