Privatised Channel 4 would still want to stay in Leeds, Oliver Dowden insists

Mr Dowden was supportive of the channel being privatised when he was Culture Secretary but station bosses have claimed such a move would place the future of its regional headquarters in Leeds into doubt as a result of new owners looking to consolidate operations in London to save money.

Speaking to The Yorkshire Post as he visited the city to open the Conservatives’ own new regional office in Leeds on Thursday, Mr Dowden said he believed that scenario was unlikely to come to fruition.

“I don’t think actually the concern has much foundation to it,” he said.

“I think there is such a momentum and dynamism to Leeds that it would be very foolish for whoever owned it to uproot from Leeds, given all the dynamism of the local economy, the creativity, the bars, the restaurants and all those other things that make this a nice place to live and work.

“To say they would pull that up and transfer it all back to London - I just don’t think it would make sense to do that.”

In September, Channel 4 chief executive Alex Mahon said she believed new owners would be likely to want to reduce the station’s “office footprint”, with it currently having bases in London, Leeds, Manchester, Bristol and Glasgow.

The Government is currently considering the result of a consultation on the potential privatisation of Channel 4.

Last September, Mr Dowden had been due to give a speech arguing in favour of the move on the grounds that the station, which is publicly owned but funded through commercial income, will require more income to grow.

He was due to say: “It can either come on the back of the taxpayer, or it can come from private investment. And it’s my strong position – as a point of principle – that I do not believe the borrowing of a commercial TV channel should be underwritten by a granny in Stockport or Southend.”

The speech never went ahead as a reshuffle saw Mr Dowden become Tory chairman with Nadine Dorries taking over as Culture Secretary.

She has taken a more neutral approach to the topic in public, saying in November she had not made a decision and wanted to properly consider the results of the consultation, which received more than 60,000 responses.

Mr Dowden said the decision would ultimately be hers rather than one for him to be involved with.

“I always think it is best when you leave one job not to try and be a backseat driver and Nadine Dorries is driving DCMS now,” he said.

Concerns over plan

Among those to warn against the privatisation of Channel 4 is former Culture Secretary Karen Bradley.

She said in January that the station would not have set up a national headquarters in Leeds under a privatised model. “Leeds represents not just a symbolic move, but a real shift in Channel 4’s focus, creating jobs and opportunities outside the capital and helping to make sure that a national broadcaster has a national mission that benefits the whole of the UK,” she said.

But ex-Channel 4 boss Michael Grade has warned the station faces “inevitable decline” under its current model.

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