Dido Harding may want to be the head of the NHS but some people aren’t so keen

Dido Harding is considering applying to be head of NHS England, The Sunday Times reports.

According to the publication, the former head of Track and Trace has discussed the plans with health leaders and is phoning supporters to ask for help.

But she may not be a popular choice, to put it mildly. And posting on social media, many people have expressed their outrage at her potential application:

Some people pointed out that her efforts with Track and Trace weren’t exactly brilliant:

Indeed, a recent official report said that failures in Test and Trace contributed to a surge in the Indian variant of the virus. And despite the government setting aside £37 billion for the programme, Sage, the independent scientific advisory group, said last year that it had had “minimal impact on transmission”.

Meanwhile, Harding was the head of the network TalkTalk when it was hacked by two teenage boys in 2015, resulting in almost 157,000 customers having their personal details stolen. When she was appointed to work with Track and Trace, people questioned it given this track record.

That she has had such important roles in government while also serving as a Conservative peer in the House of Lords has also triggered controversy.

And perhaps ironically, her husband is the government’s anti-corruption champion and Conservative MP John Penrose.

Great.