News from London Assembly Labour

London Mayor’s Arts Council appointment “dishonourable”

Labour’s leader on the London Assembly says Boris Johnson’s decision to appoint Veronica Wadley to chair the London Arts Council, despite her failing her first interview for the job, as “dishonourable”.

The Mayor today announced that the former Evening Standard editor, a close ally and key supporter of Boris Johnson during his campaign to defeat Ken Livingstone, would get the high profile arts job. The Mayor’s office said last year he had “no intention” of recommending anyone else for the job and would “sit it out for a new secretary of state” before appointing someone. The new secretary of state today approved the appointment of Ms Wadley.

E-mails released under the Freedom of Information Act and various letter exchanges revealed that Veronica Wadley was:

* described as having “almost no arts credibility” by the Chair of Arts Council England (a member of the interview panel);

* interviewed and recommended for appointment by Boris Johnson despite the interview panel agreeing she did not meet the standard required and would not go forward to the next interview stage;

* rejected for the post by the previous Secretary of State for Culture on the grounds that her appointment breached government anti-sleaze rules.

Today, Len Duvall, leader of the Labour group on the London Assembly, said: “This confirms every suspicion about how the appointment has been handled. They re-started the process when they were found out, independent advice was ignored, candidates were over-looked and an important position was left vacant until a Tory government willing to play along was elected. All so the Mayor could fix it for one of his cronies to get the job. It stinks, it’s dishonourable, but it’s nothing less than we expected. So much for the new politics.”

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• Christine Quigley becomes latest London Assembly Labour candidate - 1 February 2012