PM and Culture Sec publish letters on football regulator
GOV.UK has published a short exchange of letters between Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy dated 6 November 2025. The letters respond to the independent Commissioner for Public Appointments’ report on the hiring of the first Chair of the Independent Football Regulator. Nandy apologises for an error; the Prime Minister accepts that it was unknowing, notes the process fell short of expectations, and says the report does not question David Kogan’s suitability for the role.
A quick explainer of who does what helps here. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport runs open competitions for public roles such as the football regulator’s chair. The Commissioner for Public Appointments-currently Sir William Shawcross-acts independently of ministers to give assurance that appointments follow the Government’s Governance Code. The Prime Minister is accountable for overall standards in public life and sets the tone on learning lessons when things go wrong.
What the report means in plain terms is set out in the letters. Nandy writes that the Commissioner concluded she unknowingly breached an aspect of the Governance Code because two donations to her 2020 leadership bid were not known to her when the process began; once she discovered them, she declared and stepped back from the process. The Prime Minister’s reply recognises her swift recusal, says the process was not fully up to standard, and welcomes DCMS working with the Commissioner and the Cabinet Office to improve guidance on conflicts.
Where are we in the appointment? Lisa Nandy named David Kogan OBE as the government’s preferred candidate on 25 April 2025. After a pre‑appointment hearing, MPs on the Culture, Media and Sport Committee endorsed him on 9 May 2025. DCMS confirmed Kogan as Chair on 6 October 2025 and named Dame Helen Stephenson and Simon Levine as non‑executive directors. The following day, Kogan appointed Richard Monks as the regulator’s first chief executive.
Why did donations and declarations matter? Under the Governance Code on Public Appointments, candidates must declare recent significant political activity, including recordable donations. DCMS noted that Kogan declared donations to local Labour candidates, and that the process was run under the Code. The Commissioner oversees compliance with that framework, which the Cabinet Office updated in October 2025.
Parliament has a teaching role in this too. The CMS Committee said Kogan’s experience made him well‑suited and recommended that he take clear steps to demonstrate political neutrality. When ministers later confirmed the appointment, the Committee Chair, Dame Caroline Dinenage, welcomed the end of a drawn‑out process and stressed that DCMS should learn lessons once the Commissioner’s recommendations were published.
What changes now? The Prime Minister’s letter says the process did not fully meet expectations and that DCMS will cooperate with the Commissioner and the Cabinet Office to strengthen conflict‑of‑interest guidance. He also states the report casts no doubt on Kogan’s suitability, and urges government to get on with the regulator’s work for fans-an urgency Nandy links to problems at clubs such as Sheffield Wednesday, with MPs also pointing to crises like Morecambe’s situation.
If you’re teaching this, here’s the process in one go. Departments advertise the role and set criteria; an Advisory Assessment Panel with a Senior Independent Panel Member interviews and identifies appointable candidates; the minister chooses a preferred candidate; for major posts, MPs hold a public hearing; the Commissioner can carry out spot checks or an inquiry. Those steps were followed here, with ‘spot checks’ opened on 15 May 2025 and a follow‑up letter published on 29 May.
What it means for football is that the regulator continues to be built. The law creating it-the Football Governance Act 2025-is now in force. DCMS has said the Chair’s role is three days a week on £130,000, with the regulator funded by a future levy on licensed clubs once it is fully operational. The immediate mission is to improve governance and financial sustainability across the game.
How to read stories like this with media‑literacy in mind: look for primary documents first, then check the oversight trail. Here, the primary sources are the published letters on GOV.UK, the Committee’s reports and statements, DCMS notices, and the Governance Code. If you’re discussing this in class, ask whether the perceived conflict was handled promptly, whether the process changes are clear, and whether the regulator can now move at pace.