The House of Commons’ Culture, Media and Sport Committee has backed the appointment of Dame Julia Unwin as the next chair of the Charity Commission.

Unwin met with Committee members this week at a pre-appointment hearing following the announcement earlier this month by the government that the former Joseph Rowntree Foundation chief executive is its preferred candidate.

“It’s clear that Dame Julia has the skills and experience to take on the challenge of chairing an organisation that plays a vital role ensuring that the public can support charities with confidence,” said Committee chair Dame Caroline Dineage

"We look forward to engaging with her as she gets to work at a time when the charity sector needs a robust and supportive regulator.”

Unwin is just the second preferred candidate to be endorsed by the committee in recent years.

They had previously failed to back the former Conservative government’s candidates, including Orlando Fraser, who Unwin is set to replace and is a former Conservative Party general election candidate, and former Conservative minister Baroness Stowell.

The only candidate they backed was Martin Thomas, who was forced to resign in 2021 before taking up the post after being investigated for inappropriate behaviour by a charity he had chaired.

During her pre appointment meeting Unwin acknowledged the role has had a “chequered” recent history but added “before that it has had a strong leadership, and I hope I can emulate that”.

Also during the session she said that charities have “never been more needed” to tackle division in society.

She also raised concerns about “a crisis in trusteeship" as the burden of the role "has got greater and the extent to which they are held accountable are making it much less attractive and more problematic for people in other roles to do it".

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