Elizabeth Denham approved as new Information Commissioner by select committee

Denham now only needs a ceremonial approval by the Queen for confirmation of her £140k-a-year role

Canadian privacy chief Elizabeth Denham has been approved by the Culture, Media and Sport select committee to take over the Information Commissioner role when Christopher Graham leaves his role on 28 June.

Denham currently serves as Information and Privacy Commissioner in British Columbia, Canada, but will leave her post to join the ICO on a five-year contract with an annual salary of £140,000.

The approval from the committee was always likely to be a formality given the secretary of state for the DCMS, John Whittingdale, put Denham forward for the role.

Last month, Whittingdale said that she would bring a "wealth of knowledge and experience to the role" having been British Columbia's Information Commissioner-equivalent for the past six years.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe, minister for data protection, also gave her backing to Denham: "She has a track record of working with business and other stakeholders, as well as a proactive approach to enforcing data protection law."

The select committee gave the green light to hiring Denham at a pre-appointment hearing yesterday.

All that is left now to finalise the appointment is a ceremonial approval by The Queen.

Denham will join the ICO at a time of great change in the data protection landscape, with the European Commission's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) finally approved, and with growing public concerns about privacy and transparency.

Graham, who is leaving his post as Information Commissioner because his term finishes in June 2016, said he was "delighted" that Denham was set to take over as the next Commissioner.

"Elizabeth is an experienced information rights practitioner, essential when the ICO is busier than ever and facing the challenges of the digital age," he said.