Public appointments commissioner raises concerns as spotlight falls on roles given to figures linked to Tories
Criticism of how four Covid-19 “tsars” were put in place has been voiced by an independent watchdog, as a new spotlight also fell on appointments of as many as 19 Tory-linked figures over the past 12 months.
“Greater clarity” about the terms on which the four were appointed in areas such as PPE and vaccine procurement “might have helped”, said the head of the public appointments watchdog, who recently expressed concern that the government was presiding over a new wave of political cronyism.