Charges of cronyism over choice of Labour peer to head media watchdog

The Government faced fresh accusations of "cronyism" last night over the expected appointment of a Labour peer as the first chairman of Ofcom, the new communications super-regulator.

Lord Currie of Marylebone, who has been a Labour peer since 1996, has been given the £133,000-a-year job to regulate the TV, radio and telecommunications industry. The Tories said the hiring amounted to "blatant cronyism".

Lord Currie, the dean of City University Business School, is a leading economist and an ally of Gordon Brown, the Chancellor. He helped Mr Brown devise his original five tests on euro membership and wrote a paper setting out the definitive case for the Treasury's public-private partnership of London Underground.

Lord Currie's only previous regulatory experience was when he sat on the management board of Ofgem, the energy watchdog.

Ofcom will bring together five regulatory bodies, including the Independent Television Commission and the Radio Authority. The chairman's role will be to maintain quality, standards and competition.

John Whittingdale, the Tory trade and industry spokesman, said: "It's increasingly clear that in order to qualify for a top job in the media under this government, the prime qualification is a record of support for the Labour party."

The controversy follows arguments over the appointment of the Labour supporters Greg Dyke and Gavyn Davies to the top two jobs at the BBC.

Lord Currie is to resign the Labour whip in the Lords to try to ensure there is no conflict of interest. He has been a longstanding member of the Labour Party, but is understood to be divesting himself of all his political roles. An official at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport said: "We can't comment on any announcement but Whoever is chosen has been selected using a full and independent process. The interviewing and testing is not done by ministers, as set out under Nolan procedures."

Other figures believed to have been on the shortlist also had strong links to Labour. Lord Eatwell, another Labour peer and president of Queens' College, Cambridge, and Vanni Treves, the Labour donor and chairman of Channel 4, were considered for the post.

The creation of Ofcom is one of the main proposals in the Government's draft communications Bill. As the Bill outlines the body's powers but does not prescribe how they are used, the post of chairman is seen as pivotal to its operation.