Andrew Tyrie Returns

This very brief post reacts to the news that Andrew Tyrie has taken control of the Competition and Markets Authority. In a previous post where were reviewed Tyrie’s work as head of the Treasury Select Committee, we asked where would Tyrie go next and what impact will he have? Now we know, it would be good to provide a brief review of his new endeavour and examine the importance of his appointment.

As stated above, we asked in a previous post where would Tyrie go after he left the Treasury Select Committee. Last month we received our answer when it was announced that he would be taking over the lead of the Competition and Markets Authority, the UK’s leading competition regulator. In taking over, Tyrie announced that, in his belief, ‘competition can and should be put even closer to the centre of British economic life, reaching every sector, rooting out monopoly and unfair trading practices, and enhancing Britain’s global competitiveness’. The Guardian raises the point that Tyrie is taking over at a crucial juncture for the regulator, and the very briefest of reviews into recent news regarding competition describes just why that is. We looked at this issue in October last year, and since then there have been more cases of issues that the regulator will be forced to face. Not only are there massive deals being negotiated that would cause competitive concerns, like Sky and Fox’s protracted negotiations and Tesco’s takeover of Booker, but news recently that Sainsbury’s and Asda are considering merging only adds to the workload of this ever-busy regulator.

Across the business media, Tyrie’s appointment has been roundly applauded, and this is mostly because of his effectiveness whilst in charge of the Treasury Select Committee. However, his appointment will be extremely interesting to monitor, because it is worth questioning whether his performance was due to his character, or that of the Treasury Select Committee – Nicky Morgan, since taking over from Tyrie, has been particularly forthright in her battle with some of the leading financial figures, with her performance over the RBS GRG scandal earning rave reviews. Yet, regular readers of Financial Regulation Matters will be more than aware that this author is often particularly scathing of Conservative MPs and their policies, but in Tyrie there exists somewhat of a contradiction. He earns praise from across the board, and it is easy to see why – taking on such industrial powerhouses, and often winning, is no easy feat and Tyrie has developed a reputation for doing just that – it is indeed a very positive thing. Yet, one has the nagging feeling that it is the Treasury Select Committee which is the real vehicle for those sorts of interventions, so it will indeed be fascinating to see how Tyrie conducts himself in his new role.

Keywords – Andrew Tyrie, Politics, Regulation, Competition, @finregmatters.