Boris appointment blocked by Bradshaw
By politics.co.uk staff
The culture secretary has blocked the appointment of an ally of Mayor of London Boris Johnson to the Arts Council it was revealed today.
The mayor put forward Veronica Wadley, former editor of the London Evening Standard as a candidate for running the Arts Council’s London office.
However, her appointment was blocked by Ben Bradshaw.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) told the Guardian newspaper: “The secretary of state has been advised the appointment process was in clear contravention of the Nolan principles and that panel members were deeply unhappy that due process had not been followed.
“On that basis the secretary of state could not accept the mayor’s recommendation.”
Mr Johnson is rumoured to be enraged by the accusations and by the blocking of his preferred candidate.
It is not the first time that the Mayor has had difficulty getting his preferred candidate confirmed by the DCMS.
In July politics.co.uk revealed that the appointment of Tony Hall to the board of the London organising committee of the Olympic Games (Locog) was delayed by several weeks as ministers were unable to reach a decision over what his responsibilities should be.
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