• Rick Parry writes to Badenoch to request meeting
• Conservative leader thinks regulator a ‘waste of money’

Rick Parry, the chair of the English Football League, has expressed disappointment with Kemi Badenoch for not speaking to the league before coming out against an independent football regulator, and has asked the leader of the Conservative party to consider taking “a more balanced view”.

In February, Badenoch declared her personal opposition to a policy launched by the last Conservative government, calling the regulator a “waste of money” and claiming that “people in the industry don’t think it’s going to work”.