UK competition watchdog chair Marcus Bokkerink has been fired by the government for not doing enough to boost the UK’s economic prospects, according to reports.
The government timed the ousting to coincide with the Davos economic forum, said the reports, to underline the new growth-led thinking in the government.
Government ministers felt that the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) currently is not growth-orientated enough, with delays to deals such as Vodafone and Three Mobile seen as a handicap to the plans.
Bokkerink, appointed by former Conservative business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng and a former senior partner at Boston Consulting, has chaired the CMA since 2022.
He will be replaced on an interim basis by Doug Gurr, former boss of Amazon UK and head of online in China during a stint between 2011 and 2020.
Bokkerink’s departure is said to have followed a presentation to Rachel Reeves by the CMA last week that underwhelmed the Chancellor.
Keir Starmer last year said that he wanted every regulator in this country - especially our economic and competition regulators – to take growth as seriously as the (now) PM.
In a statement, Bokkerink said that his approach at the CMA was designed to promote growth through fair and effective competition by ensuring consumers and businesses had choice and a level playing field.
Under his tenure, the CMA was blasted by Microsoft vice chair Brad Smith in 2023 after it temporarily blocked the tech giant's takeover of gaming group Activision Blizzard.
Microsoft restructured the deal subsequently to get approval, saying the CMA had been "tough and fair".