Government fires UK competition watchdog chair

The chair of the UK’s competition watchdog has been fired by government ministers who felt that the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) had failed to convince them it was sufficiently focused on growth.

Government sources said that with the chancellor and business secretary at the World Economic Forum in Davos trying to drum up investment, the government wanted to send a signal that it was serious about growth.

The CMA recently held up a merger between Vodafone and Three Mobile Networks which was eventually approved.

Marcus Bokkerink, who has chaired the CMA since 2022, will be replaced on an interim basis by Doug Gurr, former boss of Amazon UK.

Mr Bokkerink and other regulators met with Chancellor Rachel Reeves last week to deliver their ideas on how to stimulate growth.

It is understood that the submission from the CMA was thought to be underwhelming.

The CMA’s primary responsibility is to ensure consumers are well served by effective and fair competition.

The CMA has been contacted for comment.