Oliver Dowden: Celebs Rumors

The UK government has made the same move as the U.S. by banning TikTok on ministers and civil servants’ phones.

Josh Tapper, known for his appearances on the popular Channel 4 show Gogglebox, has been chosen as the Labour candidate aiming to unseat Tory Deputy PM Oliver Dowden. The former TV star, who was a regular feature on the show with his family, expressed his excitement and gratitude on Twitter, saying: "I'm thrilled and honoured to have been selected as Labour 's parliamentary candidate for Hertsmere.Thank you so much to local members for your support - I won't let you down.The work to unseat the Deputy Prime Minister starts now! " Josh, who joined the Labour Party under Keir Starmer's leadership, first appeared on Gogglebox at the age of 15.The Tapper featured on the show between 2013 and 2018 and they were made up of dad Jonathan, mum Nikki, daughter Amy and son Josh. In 2022 he told Jewish News it "suddenly blew up out of nowhere".

A new official portrait has been unveiled of King Charles III, ready to hang in public buildings across the UK as part of a controversial £8 million Government-funded scheme. Charles, 75, is pictured in full regalia inside Windsor Castle wearing his Royal Navy uniform as an Admiral of the Fleet and an abundance of official medals and decorations.The monarch was captured last year by photographer Hugo Burnand, who also took the King and Queen Camilla's coronation portraits and their 2005 wedding photos.

Phillip Schofield is reportedly rejecting calls to quit This Morning amid his ongoing 'feud' with Holly Willoughby.

Naman Ramachandran BBC chairman Richard Sharp has resigned his position over his role in a 2020 loan to then U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Sharp had been under pressure ever since a parliamentary inquiry into the matter by the same Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) committee that had interviewed him for the job found that he had made “significant errors of judgement” when he did not declare his role in the facilitation of the loan to Johnson. Sharp, a banker and former chair of the Royal Academy of Arts, was appointed in January 2021 on the recommendation of Oliver Dowden, then DCMS secretary and Johnson. A report in U.K.’s The Sunday Times in January alleged that Johnson put forward the recommendation just weeks after Sharp “helped to arrange a guarantee on a loan of up to £800,000 [$990,000 ]” for Johnson.

This is the moment thousands marked the end of the holy month of Ramadan and took part in Eid prayers. An estimated 20,000 took to Platt Fields park in Fallowfield for the 'Eid in the Park' event.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has promoted two close allies to replace the departing Dominic Raab.

EXCLUSIVE: The BBC raised concerns about the way the government was going about appointing its new Chairman before the controversial hire of Richard Sharp.

King Charles’ Coronation is estimated to cost a staggering £100million - but should the monarch fund the momentous occasion himself? The historic event comes as households across the UK struggle with cost-of-living pressures, including soaring energy prices and high inflation, and some critics have questioned whether the cost of such an event is appropriate.The substantial sum was estimated by the Operation Golden Orb committee, who are planning the Coronation which falls on Saturday, May 6. As it's a state event, the UK government will be paying for the Coronation, meaning it will essentially be funded by the taxpayer.

Netflix has added a disclaimer to the description for its latest The Crown trailer following a difficult couple of weeks for the royal series.

Strong words. Judi Dench slammed Netflix’s “completely inaccurate” portrayal of the royal family in the upcoming season of The Crown.

Manori Ravindran International Editor U.K. Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries has formally resigned, less than a year into her role. Dorries told ITV News that she’d been offered to stay in the role by the country’s new Prime Minister Liz Truss, but decided to pass “after a lot of soul-searching.” It’s still unclear whether Dorries will relinquish her position as a member of parliament. Dorries was named culture secretary in a major cabinet shake up in September 2021. She replaced Oliver Dowden. Her time as culture secretary has been fraught with a string of gaffes. Last year, in a government select committee hearing, Dorries — who has been supporting the bid to privatize “It’s a Sin” broadcaster Channel 4 — appeared not to know how the U.K. broadcaster is funded, stating that it was “in receipt of public money,” when in fact Channel 4 is publicly owned but funded by advertising.

Boris Johnson has said he intends to "hang on in there", despite multiple resignations and open Tory revolt over his leadership.

Boris Johnson should resign as Prime Minister as he has lost the ability to win votes, a former leader of the Conservative Party has said.

Gary Neville warned Boris Johnson “he’s done” following Conservative defeats in by-elections held in Tiverton & Honiton and Wakefield. The Tories have suffered major blows last night and this morning, losing the two seats and party co-chair.

The Tory party has been warned it is “sleepwalking to a defeat at the next election” unless it dumps Boris Johnson after two disastrous by-election defeats.

The Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, has said he will 'listen' to voters but 'keep going' after the Conservatives suffered two heavy by-election losses. The defeats in Wakefield and in Tiverton and Honiton led to Oliver Dowden resigning as the Tory party co-chairman.

Oliver Dowden has resigned as chairman of the Conservative Party after it suffered two by-election defeats.

Kim Kardashian has arrived on the red carpet at the 2022 Met Gala in a gown worn by Marilyn Monroe, which she paired with a newly blonde hairdo. On Monday, The Kardashians star made her debut on the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art with her boyfriend, comedian Pete Davidson. For the occasion, the Skims founder chose a bedazzled sheer beige floor-length gown, which was previously worn by Monroe in 1962 to serenade President John F Kennedy on his 45th birthday.

A Tory MP who watched porn on his mobile phone in the House of Commons should be expelled from the party, a Home Office minister has said.

Reports that a Tory MP was watching pornography on his phone while in the Commons chamber are being investigated.

A second Bury Conservative election candidate has been ditched by the party after an ‘anti-Semitic’ social media post emerged. Shaf Mahmood, who was selected by the Tories as one of their three candidates for the Redvales ward has had his endorsement from the party revoked today, the district association revealed.

Channel 4, which would result in the broadcaster being sold off after 40 years in public ownership.As reported by The Guardian, the government is hoping to raise close to £1billion, with the money potentially being used for creative training and for independent production companies.Last year, former Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said that the privatisation of Channel 4 was “needed” in order for it to “compete with the streaming giants”.“Without [more money], Channel 4 won’t have the money to invest in technology and programming, and it won’t be able to compete with the streaming giants,” he said, according to Sky News.Earlier in the year Ricky Gervais spoke out against the potential sale of Channel 4, calling it “a real shame”.“For almost 40 years, Channel 4 has been a launch pad for new ideas and new talent,” he wrote on Twitter. “It’s been able to do that because of its remit and not-for-profit structure and it would be a real shame if that was destroyed by selling off the channel.”Channel 4’s chief executive, Alex Mahon, revealed the news to staff on Monday (April 4): “We have been informed in the last hour that the government will shortly announce that the secretary of state has decided to proceed with the proposal to privatise Channel 4,” she wrote in an email.“In our engagement with the government during its extended period of reflection, we have proposed a vision for the next 40 years which we are confident would allow us to build on the successes of the first 40.

A group of the UK’s senior Conservative Party politicians has written to the Prime Minister, expressing grave concerns about the prospect of selling off public broadcaster Channel 4 and writing, “Channel 4 isn’t broke, and doesn’t need fixing.”

Martin Compston and the AC-12 team have carried out their biggest interrogation yet - with Boris Johnson in the hot seat.

EXCLUSIVE: As the BBC dominates the headlines and the future of the licence fee is placed in doubt, another major British public broadcaster Channel 4 looks set to have to wait longer to discover the fate of its own future-defining government decision on privatization.

Trevor Phillips tearfully recalled the death of his daughter in lockdown during the same weekend No10 staff partied.

Boris Johnson is facing fresh allegations that he and dozens of Downing Street staff broke lockdown rules last May with a boozy party in the Number 10 garden during the height of the nationwide lockdown.

Channel 4 says she doesn’t believe that the station is a “left-wing organisation,” amid talk of privatisation.Earlier this year, then-Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said that the privatisation of the channel is “needed” in order for it to “compete with the streaming giants”.Dowden then suggested that the additional money needed can come either “on the back of the taxpayer” or from private investment.In a new interview with the Telegraph, station boss Alex Mahon discussed the potential plans, and outlined her beliefs on what Channel 4 stands for.“I don’t think we are a left-wing organisation,” she said.

UK culture secretary Nadine Dorries has signalled it could be some time until she has an answer on the privatization of Channel 4, as she says she is “only interested in how Channel 4 will survive in the future.”

Manori Ravindran International EditorOver a month after her shock Culture Secretary appointment amid a dramatic cabinet reshuffle, Nadine Dorries (pictured, right) has at last met with the CEO of the U.K.’s “It’s a Sin” broadcaster Channel 4, which Boris Johnson’s government has threatened to put on the sales block.Variety can reveal that Channel 4 boss Alex Mahon (pictured, left) met this week with Dorries in what was the pair’s first meeting since the latter MP took over from Oliver Dowden as Culture Secretary.

People will be able to buy toys at Christmas despite concerns over stock shortages and price rises, a government minister has said.

A Tory minister has defended Boris Johnson for going on holiday while the UK faces energy shortages and problems recruiting much-needed HGV drivers.

Naman Ramachandran Newly appointed U.K. Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries delivered the opening keynote at the London Tech Week conference on Monday with a promise of “stable digital regulation.”Dorries, whose full official title is Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, said that she would deliver on the U.K.

Happy Friday International Insiders. Tom Grater here coming to you live from the San Sebastian Film Festival with the week’s top international news. To get this sent to your inbox every Friday, sign up here.

Boris Johnson‘s significant cabinet reshuffle yesterday (September 15), Dorries has taken on the job as head of the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), replacing Oliver Dowden.Following Dorries’ appointment, many across the music and culture industry have been sharing previous opinions and comments from the new chief, including when she claimed that comedy was being killed by “left-wing snowflakes” and that the BBC was “a biased left-wing organisation which is seriously failing in its political representation, from the top down”.One tweet, from 2017, has been widely shared since yesterday’s appointment.