In the chair

The government’s choice for OfS chair tells MPs he will be independent and open

There were several themes running through yesterday’s House of Commons education committee meeting at which the credentials of James Wharton—the government’s preferred candidate to become the next chair of the Office for Students—were examined.

But one issue that kept rearing its head was how the man who ran Boris Johnson’s leadership election campaign—a former Conservative MP and current Conservative peer—was going to act independently when he got the gig at the OfS. We say ‘when’ and not ‘if’, since there was nothing in Lord Wharton’s cross-examination yesterday that would cast any real doubt on the confirmation of his appointment.