Rishi Sunak has pledged to press ahead with the privatization of Channel 4 if he becomes prime minister, clearing the way for the broadcaster to be sold next year.
His support for privatization all but killed any hope Channel 4 bosses had that a new Conservative leader might choose to abandon the sale process, which is opposed by the vast majority of the British media industry.
Instead, support for privatization appears to have become an easy way for the two remaining Tory leadership candidates to signal their free-market credentials to party members who will choose the next prime minister.
Liz Truss, the other remaining leadership candidate, is also believed to support the privatization of Channel 4, although her spokesman did not respond to requests for comment on the matter.
Truss is trying to cast himself as a pro-privatisation free market successor to Margaret Thatcher – even though the former Tory prime minister founded Channel 4 as a public institution in the 1980s.
The sale of Channel 4 has been strongly supported by Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries, who is a fierce supporter of Truss.
Plans to privatize Channel 4 were expected to be published before Parliament adjourned for the summer recess. However, the legislation was delayed due to drafting problems and Boris Johnson’s defenestration. Instead, it is expected to be ready when parliament returns – under a new prime minister – in the autumn.
Channel 4, which recently recorded its best ever financial results, insists it does not need to be privatised. It said a new commercial owner would seek to extract greater profits and undermine the broadcaster’s commitment to reinvesting profits into distinctive content. Although a significant number of Conservative MPs have concerns about privatisation, many are relatively apathetic about it.
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A spokesman for Sunak’s campaign said: “Rishi will push ahead with the privatization of Channel 4. Channel 4 is an important part of British broadcasting and supports our brilliant creative industries, but much has changed since the 1980s when it was set up to to provide viewers with more choice.
“Privatisation will help Channel 4 thrive in an age where they are also competing with Netflix, Amazon, Apple and many others – standing still is not an option.”
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