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EXCLUSIVE: Nadine Dorries was telling the truth when she accused BBC board member Robbie Gibb of meddling in a key appointment at the UK broadcaster’s regulator, Ofcom.
That’s the verdict of a source who worked closely with Dorries during her time as culture secretary in the year to September 2022. This person told Deadline that Gibb “campaigned” for his preferred candidate to become Ofcom chair.
It is the latest twist in a media row that has slowly gathered momentum in the UK after Dorries made allegations about Gibb’s interference in the Ofcom recruitment process in her book The Plot.
Dorries was responsible for hiring the next chair of Ofcom and narrowed the field to Lord Grade, a former BBC and ITV executive, and Lord Gilbert, a Conservative peer who served as an election strategist to former prime minister Theresa May.
Dorries’ preferred candidate was Grade, but she alleged that during a meeting at 10 Downing Street, Gibb attempted to persuade her to hire Gilbert. Gibb worked as May’s communications director, so he and Gilbert shared a connection with Britain’s former leader.
Speaking to Deadline, Dorries’ ex-colleague accused Gibb of trying to organize other “covert” meetings with the minister to pressure her over the decision. “We ignored it and I tried to keep them apart,” the source said.
Dorries ultimately installed Grade at Ofcom, but the allegations have raised questions over whether Gibb behaved improperly. Critics say it would be inappropriate for a BBC director to attempt to influence who runs the broadcaster’s own regulator.
Gibb did not respond to Deadline’s request for comment and has previously failed to deny Dorries’ allegations. The Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) declined to comment.
The BBC pointed to previous statements on the matter. In a letter to Alan Rusbridger, the former Guardian editor who has been investigating the claims, BBC acting chair Elan Closs Stephens said she discussed the matter with Gibb and determined that “no breach” of the board’s code of practice had taken place. She failed to deny that Gibb had intervened in the Ofcom role.
A BBC spokesperson said: “The BBC board doesn’t take a view on who should be the chairman of Ofcom. The appointment of the chair of the regulator is a not a matter for the BBC; it is a government-led process and all enquiries should be directed to the DCMS.”
Incoming BBC chairman Samir Shah was repeatedly asked about Gibb’s actions during a Culture, Media and Sport Committee hearing in Parliament on Wednesday.
Labour MP Kevin Brennan said it would be “utterly inappropriate” if Gibb had intervened in the Ofcom hiring process. Shah said he would not prejudge the matter before he has had an opportunity to review the evidence. He committed to discussing the matter with Closs Stephens and writing to the Culture, Media and Sport Committee with his conclusions.
Shah, who once worked with Gibb as the co-executive producer of BBC politics show This Week, acknowledged that the appointment of Ofcom’s chair “would not be anything to do” with a BBC board member.
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