14 February 2013
The return of ex-Culture Secretary James Purnell to the BBC — confirmed this morning as the £295,000 head of strategy and digital — was always on the cards.
As the Londoner pointed out last month, having obtained copies of BBC Trust chairman Chris Patten’s diary, Purnell held a meeting with Patten in January 2012 which had not previously been publicised.
Friends say Purnell had long had his eye on a job with the BBC having worked for John Birt when he was director-general in the mid-Nineties. Purnell’s appointment is one of several being rushed out by the BBC today ahead of publication of the Pollard Review transcripts, which promise to make uncomfortable reading for some of the high-ups.
