James Wharton was an MP for 7 years. He started the Brexit ball rolling by submitting a private members bill for a referendum on our membership of the EU. He was put in charge of the Northern Powerhouse (remember that) for a while and was given other ministerial positions.

After losing his seat he was put in charge of Boris Johnson’s leadership campaign, and was rewarded by being elevated to the Lords and given the title Baron Wharton of Yarm.
Last week, after a supposedly fair process Wharton was appointed head for the Office of Students.

A role for which he has no relevant experience. Also interviewed for the position was Sir Ivor Crewe the former vice-chancellor of the University of Essex, one-time head of Universities UK and most recently the master of University College, Oxford. Unfortunately for Sir Ivor, he

has previously criticised the government for - putting under qualified, inexperienced people in charge of public bodies! He never stood a chance. I haven’t mentioned that Wharton has received funding from Alexander Temerko and he was paid to be an adviser for Temerko.

The head of the Office for Students should surely be an independent role but Wharton has already refused to resign the government whip in the House of Lords.
The government is now looking to appoint a “free speech champion” to oversee higher education and make make sure that

free speech is protected in universities and presumably to make sure universities stop looking at the bad things we did in the past.
This government scares me and I hope it does you. COVID has put the brakes on the agenda that they wanted to pursue after the election but they

are now starting to ramp things up. Labour need to start opposing, and quickly! #ToryCorruption #cronyism #FreeSpeech https://www.theguardian.com/education/2021/feb/14/how-expert-was-rejected-for-education-role-given-to-pms-ally?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other