London Mayor Boris Johnson has refused to put forward an alternative nominee for the post of London Chair at the Arts Council, following the decision by Culture Secretary Ben Bradshaw to reject the appointment of Veronica Wadley.

The Mayor has written to Ben Bradshaw defending the initial process and his conclusion that the former editor of the Evening Standard was the best person for the job.

The Culture Secretary’s decision leaves the Mayor with no choice but to re-run the recruitment process. Culture Secretary Ben Bradshaw had rejected London Mayor Boris Johnson’s choice of Wadley as head of the London Arts Council. Bradshaw had been advised that the appointment broke rules established by the Committee on Standards in Public Life.  The Committee on Standards in Public Life is an advisory non-departmental public body of the Government established in 1994 by Prime Minister John Major in response to concerns that conduct by some politicians was unethical.

In his letter, the Mayor reaffirms that the selection process and subsequent nomination of Ms Wadley were completely transparent and followed the Nolan principles. He argues that the veto was a purely political decision. However, the Mayor is adamant that the work of the Arts Council in London – and arts and culture in the capital as a whole – must not be allowed to drift.

The Mayor said: ‘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 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. It is essential that London continues to have a voice on the national Arts Council, so I am proposing to re-advertise and re-run the recruitment process.’

“Without doubt Veronica Wadley was the best person for the job”: Boris Johnson

Liz Forgan, chair of the Arts Council for England, says that Wadley has “almost no arts credibility”.

Whilst the process is underway, the Mayor’s advisor Munira Mirza will explore with the Arts Council’s London board the best way to establish interim arrangements and identify who from the existing members should chair Regional Meetings and represent London on the national council.

Munira Mirza said: ‘This is obviously a crucial time for the arts and I will be speaking with the London board to ensure that we have a strong voice for the capital. We want to ensure London is equipped to deliver on the arts in the immediate future and for the long-term.’

The Mayor’s authority to nominate the London Chair at the Arts Council is the result of legislative changes to the Royal Arts Council’s Royal Charter, introduced by the Government in 2007/2008.

The nomination of Veronica Wadley followed GLA procedures, meeting Nolan principles. The process was completely transparent, with Liz Forgan involved in the process from the start. She and Munira Mirza shortlisted Veronica Wadley for interview, based on her meeting the published selection criteria. They were both on the initial interview panel.

In accordance with GLA Protocol, an independent element, Sir David Durie was also invited to attend the interviews, to confirm whether, based on the information available, it would be reasonable for the Mayor to make the appointment.

There was disagreement between the two panel members about the merits of each candidate. Following advice from the GLA officers, the Mayor agreed to interview all four of their preferred candidates himself, in order to make his own assessment of each of them. Liz Forgan and Sir David Durie, as independent element, were informed.

These second interviews involved a common question format and considered each of the candidates on their merits, against the criteria. The Deputy Chief Executive of the GLA attended the second interviews, alongside the Mayor. The Mayor selected Veronica Wadley as the best candidate. The Deputy Chief Executive agreed she was the strongest, based on the interviews.

Copy of the Letter from the Mayor to the Secretary of State

Rt Hon Ben Bradshaw MP

Secretary of State

Department for Culture Media and Sport

2-4 Cockspur Street

London SW1Y 5DH

23 October 2009

Dear Ben

Appointment of the Chair of the London Region of the Arts Council of England

Thank you for your letter of 7 October.

You took over two months to reply to my letter of 31 July proposing Veronica Wadley. You then appear to have leaked your reply and correspondence – to which I was not a party – between the Chair of the Arts Council, Dame Liz Forgan and your officials to the national press. And you capped it by doing so during the Conservative Party Conference. I am therefore concerned that your decision to reject my appointment was politically motivated and little else.

I also need to remind you that, contrary to what your letter says, it is I as Mayor of London, and not you, who is responsible for making this appointment. Of course, the appointment requires your approval. But the clear intent of the Government and Parliament in the legislative changes you introduced during Ken Livingstone’s mayoralty in 2007/08, and in changing the Royal Arts Council’s Royal Charter, was to delegate the power of appointment to the Mayor.

I am quite satisfied that the process of appointment complied with the Nolan principles and followed the published GLA Protocol on Mayoral appointments which I approved and put in place in May – no such published procedure previously existed. For the record: -

I agreed that Liz Forgan should be involved in the process. She and Dr Munira Mirza together sifted all the candidates who applied against the published selection criteria. They alone decided the shortlist for interview. In other words they decided together that Veronica Wadley, alongside other candidates, met the agreed criteria

The same two people were on the initial selection panel on 1 July. In accordance with our Protocol, an independent element, Sir David Durie was invited to attend in his role, as set out in the Protocol, ‘…to confirm, based on the information available that, in their view, the Mayor could reasonably make the appointment he wishes to make …The independent element has no right of veto in relation to the Mayor’s decision or those of the Authority in relation to procedures.’

You have the report of the Selection Panel. As you say, there was no clear outcome because there was disagreement about who should be recommended to me – the intention having been to offer me a choice, as with Ministerial appointments. I therefore took advice and concluded that, in order to take account of the views of each of the panel members, I should see the four preferred candidates myself and make my own assessment

Before doing so, I consulted Liz Forgan by phone on 31 July and she accepted as fair that I should see the candidates. I also asked my Chief of Staff, Sir Simon Milton, to speak to David Durie to hear his views at first hand and to tell him how I proposed to proceed. This he did.

I then personally interviewed all four candidates. I followed a common question format. I considered the candidates on their merits against the published selection criteria. The Deputy Chief executive of the GLA sat in on the interviews and my Private Secretary took a full note. You have that too.

In the end, I selected Veronica Wadley as the best candidate against the full range of the published criteria. I am quite clear that I did so following Nolan principles – and I find it hard to see how any reasonable person reading the conclusions of the interviews could disagree.

The whole purpose of the final element of the selection process was to recognise, transparently, the differences of view that existed and to give me, as decision-maker, the opportunity to reach a final decision myself. To hide behind an argument that the process was defective because the initial panel didn’t reach an agreed view, is no more than a deliberate act to prevent the Mayor of London making an on merit decision as I am empowered to do.

I maintain that Veronica Wadley would be an excellent servant of the arts in London. As one of the top women journalists in the UK, she demonstrated at the interview a strong knowledge of London and passionate commitment to the arts. During her time as editor of the Evening Standard the paper won many awards for its arts coverage; she chaired the paper’s prestigious theatre awards and became a strong advocate for the arts in London. Since leaving the Evening Standard, she has sought to dedicate her time to arts focused roles and has recently been invited to become a member of the Northern Ballet Theatre board in Leeds. My advisor, Dr Munira Mirza, had also been impressed by personal recommendations of Veronica from senior people in the arts.

Veronica demonstrated during her interview a clear knowledge of and commitment to my vision for the Arts in London as outlined in the published “Cultural Metropolis” (November 2008): supporting arts provision across all boroughs, engaging young people, ensuring strong private and public support, encouraging greater cross borough collaboration, and promoting London’s arts in the run up to 2012. She has not professed to having a professional background in the arts world, and it is the height of hypocrisy to use this against her. Liz Forgan, the current Chair of Arts Council England, had a long career as a journalist with The Guardian and in broadcasting; and a previous Government appointment to the same post, Gerry Robinson, was a businessman, broadcaster and Labour Party donor.

Veronica’s background in the media means that she brings no bias towards sectoral interests and also brings a range of other skills; strong advocacy and communication skills; ability to think strategically and leadership qualities – all of which were included in the published selection criteria for this post. You should also be aware that all the other shortlisted candidates were male.

I am sorry therefore that you appear to have taken a narrow and party political approach to this appointment – shown up graphically by the way correspondence about the appointment process was leaked to the media, and hardly in keeping with the Nolan principles which you espouse.

In the interests of the London Regional Arts Council and the arts in London I have no choice but to acknowledge your decision, bad though it is. I am therefore proposing to re–advertise and re-run the recruitment process for the Chair. Since there is a meeting of the London Arts Council during November, I propose to ask members of the Council to consider how to ensure its work can best be led over the coming months and how to ensure that London’s voice is heard at the National Council.

Yours ever,

Boris Johnson

Mayor of London