Gilbert's ?

The DCMS, now famous globally for its transparent and timely recruitment processes, has floated the name of Lord Gilbert of Panteg, 58, to lead its one-year review of BBC funding options. 

He's been around the Conservative party, in local and national politics most of his life. Indeed, there's no other record of employment I can find, post-West Monmouth School, (other than recent consultancy, and membership of the Electoral Commission) via the obvious routes of the information highway. 

In 1996, 33-year-old Steve went as a Conservative operative to observe the Democrat Convention in Chicago. He drafted a note which suggested that Blair would sweep all before him, like Clinton, and election strategy should be defensive. It was ignored, and, in 1997, John Major was swept aside.   Steve became Director of Campaigning for the Tories in exile...

Stephen's long-term service to the party was rewarded in 2015 when he was handed a peerage by Cameron, having served as the prime minister’s political secretary, acting as the link between No. 10 and the Conservative Party.  In the Brexit referendum, he took a part-time position at Populus, the official polling company for Britain Stronger in Europe, the main Remain campaign group.

In 2017, Stephen was selected by Theresa May to lead her campaign team for the June election. Ten days into the campaign, their US data expert Jim Messina was forecasting a landslide twice the size of Margaret Thatcher's 1983 win.  The country was left with a government in hock to the DUP. 

In March 2020, Lord Gilbert, as Chair of the Lords’ Communications and Digital Select Committee, told his fellow peers:  "We looked at the evidence and took the view that the licence fee continues to be the best way to fund the BBC."

In April 2020 Lord Gilbert joined Twitter and has since acquired 80 followers. Re-tweets ain't necessarily a guide to the re-tweeter's opinions, but he's shared positive items about Chris Mason, George Alagiah, Lyse Doucet, and Steve Rosenberg. Equally, he's re-tweeted Nadine Dorries, Amada Milling and Oliver Dowden, all key members of Shore Up Boris. 

In October last year, he was back on his feet in the Lords: "My Lords, in the weeks leading up to the 2016 US presidential election, I was working for a bit in the United States. I have to say, I came back much more enthusiastic about the BBC and our news media than perhaps I have ever been. "

In April this year, Lord Gilbert was thought to have come second to Lord Grade, as Chairman of Ofcom.