Clare clears

The Athletic says BBC Director of Policy Clare Sumner CBE, who has an interest in yoga, is to join The Premier League as their new chief policy and corporate affairs officer.  Her principal task will be damage limitation if the dithering current government decides to go ahead with the creation of a new independent regulator. 

Clare, 51 (St Helen's, Northwood and Downing College Cambridge) rose through the Civil Service after joining the Home Office under Michael Howard as a junior press officer, ending up looking after Tony Blair at No 10. She joined the BBC in 2014, as Chief of Staff to DG Lord Hall. Her seminal tasks at Auntie: finding a way out of the Over 75 licence fee mess, riding shotgun at Parliamentary Committee meetings, fending off Ofcom strategists on annual plans, begging for PBS prominence on streaming platforms, and producing best sellers like "The Universal Role of The BBC" and "The BBC's Role In The Market".