Jesse Norman, the Tory MP for Hereford and South Herefordshire, will replace John Whittingdale as the chair of the influential Culture, Media and Sport Committee (CMSC).

Norman, who has previously sat on the Treasury Committee, was elected on Wednesday as part of a secret ballot of MPs and fought off competition from five other Tories, including Damian Green.

The seat is reserved for a Conservative and during campaigning for the role, Norman vowed to “bring an added degree of calm, rigorous and independent scrutiny” to the CMSC’s work.

He has also pledged to examine the BBC’s spending in the Midlands amid a vocal campaign for more licence fee investment from local press.

“There is an issue here. It needs proper public consideration and I have already drawn attention to that in the pitch I have made,” Norman told the Birmingham Post.

The MP is a director of the Hay Festival and a trustee of London performing arts space the Roundhouse

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