Channel 4’s privatisation could be dropped by the next prime minister, with plans to sell the channel unlikely to be published before September.
Boris Johnson had already signed off on proposals to sell the publicly owned broadcaster, and the culture secretary, Nadine Dorries, had been preparing to push the law authorising the change through parliament in the autumn.
Detailed proposals to sell the broadcaster were due to be published next week as part of a wider piece of legislation on the media topics, ensuring scrutiny could begin before parliament goes off on summer recess.
However, government sources said delays in drafting the media bill – along with uncertainty over what the current caretaker government can do – meant this deadline is likely to be missed.
As a result, the draft legislation, which also contains media policies designed to aid British broadcasters in their battle with US-owned streaming companies, will only be ready when parliament returns in September.
A new Conservative prime minister will have to decide whether they want to push ahead with Channel 4 privatisation. Several Tory leadership candidates on the more centrist end of the spectrum have previously expressed doubt over the sell-off plan, including Jeremy Hunt and Tom Tugendhat.
The policy could take up significant parliamentary time and be seen as a leftover policy from the previous administration. Andrew Griffith, a key Boris Johnson aide, was seen as the main driver of the policy along with Dorries. Both are expected to lose their jobs when Johnson steps down.
Channel 4 is owned by the state but run on a commercial basis with a remit to reinvest its profits in new programmes. The broadcaster insists that it is profitable and self-sustaining in public ownership but ministers insist it faces a financial struggle in the future as it is outspent in the future.
Dorries has repeatedly denied that plans to privatise the channel are motivated by Channel 4’s perceived leftwing bias.
The change in party leader does not necessarily mean the privatisation plan is entirely dead. Removing the sale of Channel 4 from the rest of the media bill, much of which has been widely welcomed by the British television industry, could prove tricky.
Another issue facing Channel 4 bosses is ambivalence among Conservative MPs towards the issue of privatisation, which could be either a blessing or a curse. Many MPs view privatisation of the broadcaster as a low-priority issue and therefore not worthy of parliamentary time – but equally their ambivalence means they might not be willing to rebel in large enough numbers to block the sell-off.
