Was there an attempt to ‘fix’ who became head of Ofcom?

A potential cover-up I unearthed in the weeds of Nadine Dorries’s book remains a mystery, despite my attempts to get answers, writes Alan Rusbridger. It has damaged the BBC, the broadcast regulator, and the process of public appointments

With friends like these... Nadine Dorries and Boris Johnson (nadinedorries/Instagram)

It’s always the cover-up. The cliche, born of Watergate, applies equally to the clumsy attempt by people around Boris Johnson, who should have known better, to “fix” who got to be the head of Ofcom, the UK’s supposedly independent media regulator.

This may feel a little arcane, but bear with me. If a director of an energy company or bank tried to fix who got to be the industry regulator we’d all, I hope, shout about it – and we’d look to hold someone accountable. But because this story involves the BBC, an opaque government appointments process and the notoriously rackety Johnson Downing Street operation, it’s apparently just something to be shrugged at.

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