Ministers turned down five other people considered good enough to join a student body in order to appoint Toby Young, it has been revealed.
The Department of Education has admitted it was given a list of ten names to fill positions on the Office for Student board – and appointed five, including the controversial journalist.
Ministers were also given three “appointable” candidates for the role of student experience representative, but chose not to select any of them.
In the Commons on January 8 – the day before Young quit – then-Universities Minister Jo Johnson dodged a question from Labour’s Kevin Brennan of how many people were overlooked so Young could be appointed.
Speaking to HuffPost UK, Brennan said: “Not only did they appoint somebody which any due diligence would have shown was unsuitable for this position, they did not appoint anyone who was suitable for the student position.
“What’s that all about then? Didn’t they like the look of them?
“There’s clearly been an unusual amount of ministerial jiggery-pokery.”
Read in full here.
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