Former Tory MP Andrew Tyrie appointed chair of competition watchdog
The influential former head of the Treasury Select Committee, Andrew Tyrie, has been appointed chairman of the Competition and Markets Authority.
Business secretary Greg Clark said Tyrie is a "proven consumer champion and competition advocate, with a strong record of independence".
Former Conservative MP Tyrie will take the reins at the UK's main competition watchdog that has overseen reviews into everything from the Sky/Fox deal, to the Tesco/Booker merger, and investigations into hotel booking sites and gambling firms.
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His appointment is subject to a hearing of the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Select Committee.
Tyrie gained a reputation for grilling senior figures from the business and political spheres during his time on the Treasury Select Committee, often upsetting members of his own party for robust challenges to government policy.
He did not stand for re-election to his Chichester seat in last year's General Election after a 20-year stint in Parliament.
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Tyrie said: "Making markets work for the benefit of millions of people is what the CMA is all about. In the years ahead, competition can and should be put even closer to the centre of British economic life, reaching to every sector, rooting out monopoly and unfair trading practices, and enhancing Britains global competitiveness into the bargain."
Tyrie's predecessor as CMA boss, David Currie, said in September that he would step down once a successor had been identified in order to allow the new boss to "shape and deliver" the organisation's approach to Brexit.
The former CMA chairman said Brexit was likely to generate "a big increase in the CMA's workload and its role in the world".
Currie took on the role in September 2012 and oversaw the merger of the Competition Commission and Office of Fair Trading and developing a high performing single competition and consumer body for the UK.
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