Sharon White Favorite to Lead Ofcom

Sharon White, the civil servant overseeing the UK’s spending cuts, has emerged as the favorite to become the next head of the communications regulator Ofcom.

The role would place her -- the first woman, and the first black person to be appointed as a permanent secretary at the Treasury -- at the center of upheavals in the telecoms and media sectors. Ofcom’s chief executive is selected by the regulator’s board and then approved by the culture secretary.