A judge or a scientist: the dilemma over who should lead Covid inquiry Boris Johnson must find someone able to analyse complex scientific and medical issues, but yet not involved in pandemic response themselves 12 May 2021 • 7:24pm After announcing an independent public inquiry into Covid-19, the Government’s most pressing task is to appoint someone to lead it. Whoever is chosen, they will require impeccable credentials and a record of impartiality in order to secure the confidence of all political parties. The chair must be someone sufficiently capable of dissecting the complex scientific and medical dimensions of the outbreak, without having been so enmeshed in these spheres to have been drawn into the coronavirus response at the time.