Ministers are pushing for the chair of the UK’s competition regulator

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Ministers have pressed the chairman of the UK’s Sports and Markets Authority, as the government seeks to roll back regulations as part of a Labor growth plan.

The government will announce the departure of Marcus Bokkerink as chairman of the board on Tuesday evening after the intervention of business secretary Jonathan Reynolds, according to people familiar with the matter.

Bokkerink, a former Boston Consulting Group executive, was appointed in 2022. CMA seats can serve up to five years.

The Department of Trade and Industry made it clear to Bokkerink on Monday evening that it felt the regulator was not focusing enough on growth, according to another government figure.

The government has appointed Doug Gurr as the new interim chairman of the CMA.

Gurr ran Amazon’s UK business during the company’s dispute with the CMA over its limited investment in Deliveroo, which the regulator finally approved in 2020. He is currently director of the Natural History Museum in London.

Bokkerink was not immediately available for comment. The CMA and the commerce department did not immediately comment.

The competition regulator has been the target of complaints to Labor ministers from business leaders, who are frustrated by what they see as an excessive form of bargaining intervention.

“We know that the (CMA) process is not up to par. There is a lot of confusion about this across the business,” said one government expert. everyone.”

CMA was heavily criticized by Microsoft in 2023 for its acquisition of technology giant Activision Blizzard. Center finally accepted the agreement between two US-based businesses after initially seeking to block it.

Tom Smith, a competition lawyer at Geradin Partners and a former CMA director, said Bokkerink’s replacement “came as a surprise” to competition lawyers. “The government seems to be giving a strong signal, especially in relation to merger control. It is tempting to say that now would be a good time to apply for a fellowship at CMA. ”

In October last year, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer also visited the body speech to business leadershe told them that he would “make sure that every executive in this country, especially our economic and competition executives, take growth as seriously as this room”.

Eleven members of the CMA’s 33-member merger panel, an independent body of experts who decide whether any deal that could threaten competition can go ahead, are due to step down later this year this. The business department is responsible for appointing their replacements.

Another government figure says it’s reasonable to assume that most of the panel’s future members will have a business background.