Rachel Reeves has fired the head of the competition regulator, saying he was not on board with Labour’s ‘mission’ to boost economic growth.
Marcus Bokkerink, who became chairman of the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) in 2022, will step down despite not completing his five-year term.
Doug Gurr, former head of Amazon’s UK business and a director of the Natural History Museum, will replace him as interim chair.
Bokkerink’s exit followed an intervention from Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds after his department concluded the regulator was not sufficiently focused on growth, the FT reported.
Minister Justin Madders today insisted Mr Bokkerink resigned, but No10 did not deny he was asked to step down.
And this morning Ms Reeves told an event hosted by Bloomberg at the World Economic Forum in Davos: ‘He recognised that this government has got a different strategic approach when it comes to regulation, and he recognised it was time for him to move on and make way for somebody who does share the mission and the strategic direction that this government are taking.’
A wider shake-up at the regulator is also expected later this year as 11 members of its 33-strong merger panel, an independent group of experts tasked with reviewing whether any deals will harm competition, are set to retire in 2025.
The Government will appoint their replacements, many of whom are expected to come from business backgrounds.
The ousting of the CMA’s chairman comes after Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, Ms Reeves and Mr Reynolds wrote to the country’s regulators encouraging them to be ‘more pro-growth and pro-investment’.
Mr Bokkerink was appointed as chairman in 2022 by then-chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng, having previously been a senior partner at consulting giant Boston Consulting.
The watchdog has faced criticism of late, including from Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, after complaints from businesses that it intervenes too much on deals.
At an investment summit in October, Sir Keir said the Government ‘will make sure that every regulator in this country, especially our economic and competition regulators, takes growth as seriously as this room does’.
The CMA was also publicly criticised by Microsoft after the watchdog initially blocked the tech firm’s planned takeover of the gaming giant Activision Blizzard.
Microsoft’s president Brad Smith said in 2023 that the UK was ‘bad for business’, though the deal was eventually given the green light.
Ms Reeves has urged regulators to ‘tear down’ red tape in a bid for stronger economic growth.
The Chancellor and the Business Secretary met with bosses of watchdogs earlier in January.
Ms Reeves told the bosses that they must ‘tear down regulatory barriers’ in an effort to support business investment and innovation to boost the UK’s growth prospects.
The CMA and the business department have been approached for comment.